Tiger's wrath
by TiLiYu
Summary: Heiji's being targeted and one of his relatives pays a high price for it. But when it is time for him to look for that murderer with the help of his best friend, he might realise that case may be wider than anything he had been expecting...
1. Prelude

**Hey !**

 **Time to begin a new story ! : )**

 **Last one was a bit special for me since my favourite character wasn't here so, today, I'm having my revenge : this new story will be pretty much Heiji-centred :D**

 **Exceptionally, I'll be using the first person in the scenes with Heiji (mostly) and a third party PoV, when he's not here, the one I usually employ in my fics (rarely).** **I'll do as few switches as possible not to confuse you.**

 **Also, I'll kill a character quite early in the fiction (first chapter, to be honest... I should try to stop doing that :p) but I don't think I'll be killing anyone else, at least no one in the major cast so don't worry ^^; Just like "Detective", I'll give you some reasons to laugh after a few depressing chapters :p**

 **I'll be publishing the prelude and the two first chapters today, the end of the first chapter was too depressing to leave it like that ^^; After today, back to the usual, 2 chapters per week, one on Wednesdays, the other on Sundays.**

* * *

 **SUMMARY : Heiji's being targeted and one of his relatives pays a high price for it. But when it is time for him to look for that murderer with the help of his best friend, he might realise that case may be wider than anything he had been expecting.**

 **CHARACTERS : Heiji, Conan as main. Else Ran, Kazuha, Hattori family, Kid prob'ly (just one or 2 chaps, don't get too excited xD) etc etc... : )**

 **SPOILERS : Major spoilers to movie 7. Spoilers on the KazuHei and the ShinRan pairings (If London and "ORE NO..." don't ring a bell, it means you'll get spoiled :p). Might be some spoils about the FBI (agents only, not their "families", let's say). If any, it shouldn't be anything after the Clash of Red and Black (the Kir centred case).**

 **PAIRINGS : Canon**

 **RATING : T, as usual, for violence and language (yea, being in Heiji's head might bring more swear words than usual ; ) )**

* * *

 **Prelude**

* * *

 _Heiji PoV_

* * *

That day was sunny. Except for a short rain around 3 p.m. That's funny how you remember the tiniest details when you're a detective, just like me.

And that day was so... How could I forget it, seeing how it ended ?

That cloudless night and its gentle moon over Osaka's castle.

That moon almost red as it mirrored in the pool of blood under my father's body.

That father I always thought invincible was gasping, struggling for breath, his eyes in mine, a bloody hand on my face while my hands were uselessly trying to compress a wound that had already bled too much.

His arm fell back on the floor and the light in his eyes disappeared.

Denial was already trying to settle in my mind but, deep inside, I knew I just lost him.

And it was my fault.


	2. Chapter 1 - Arrow

**Chapter 1 : Arrow**

* * *

 _Heiji's PoV_

* * *

"- Can we make a detour ? It's soon Otou-chan's birthday, I'd like ta try ta find somethin' fer him..."

I turned my head to the girl who just got me out of my daydream, my childhood friend Toyama Kazuha and her usual ponytail waving near her neck, to see she was looking at me with interrogative eyes.

"- It won' be long, I promise ! " She felt the need to add.

"- Why not, then..." I accepted before stepping towards the school's exit. I hadn't anything planned for that evening after all, better hang around with Kazuha than being bored at home.

And, who knows, maybe we'd come across a case and I'd be able to settle the score with Kudô and his three cases last week, when I barely got one and kind of screw it up...

"- Hey, I said shoppin', not case-huntin' !" The girl précised as she watched me with a scolding look, having probably noticed the enthusiasm on my face.

"- Got that..." I agreed, almost bowing my head in apology at her tone.

Uhh, busted, that girl and her ponytail were getting too good at guessing what was in my head, and I didn't think I really appreciated that.

Note for myself : find a way to prevent it. Quick.

o.O.o

I rubbed the back of my neck as I felt it was like burning. That had been twice already, when we barely left high school ten minutes before, and I knew it could only mean one thing. Someone was tailing us. Years of martial arts had given me that ability to kind of feel the ones around me and there was that unknown presence just behind us, even if I wasn't able to have a glimpse of it yet.

"- Heiji ?" Kazuha asked, a worried expression on the face, mirroring mine.

"- Kazuha, sorry, but we should head home...

\- But I had ta...

\- We'll do that tomorrow, there's still one week left after all."

My childhood friend locked her eyes in mine.

My face was serious but I didn't want to scare her or, even worse, her to try to meddle in whatever was happening, probably because of me. Not knowing what that 'whatever' was, I couldn't take the risk.

I almost sighed with relief when I saw she gave up and shook her head.

"- Home then..."

o.O.o

I managed to keep both with Kazuha's chitchat and with our undesirable followers' surveillance on our way. I had been able to spot two men, in black suits and white shirts, and apparently used to those outfits. Yakusas ? Officials ? Just who the hell were they...

Taking the opportunity of a road mirror just around the last corner before the Toyama's house to have a better look at their faces, I stopped a second to finally sigh when I recognized the men.

"- Ya ok, Heiji ?

\- Yea... Looks like Oyaji is tryin' ta play one o' his pranks on me... " I answered, bored, my eyes at the corner I knew the men were waiting behind. "See ya tomorrow !

\- Don' forget ya promised ta go shoppin' with me !" The girl yelled in my back when I ran towards my followers' hideout.

"- I won' ! " I assured her, before stopping and putting my fists on my hips to face the two policemen I knew I'd find right there.

"- Oy, what's up, guys ? Since when do I need some nannies with guns ?"

Both looked at each other with embarrass, clearly not wanting to share their secret with me.

"- Ok... Let's start with the guesses... Oyaji's order ?"

The taller, Sakamoto, had a slight nod.

"- Why ?

\- Sorry, Hattori-kun, we can'..." The other - Nakashima? Nakajima ? I didn't remember - finally admitted.

"- The hell... Bring me ta him !" I snapped, feeling I was already losing my temper.

Was that my punishment after last week ? I did catch the guy, wasn't absolutely my fault if he decided to grab a priceless vase when I tackled him on the floor... And the owner didn't seem to mind that much, he had already too many of those fragile and expensive things everywhere in his mansion. His wife though...

Rahhh never mind ! I gave up as I removed my cap to ruffle my hair with annoy.

Cap back on my head, I looked once again at the two officers and none had even tried to answer me. Time to play dirty, I guessed.

"- Ok... It's perhaps time fer me ta mention at home those poker games ya all have durin' the night's watch... "

I had a hard time retaining a snort of laughter when I saw how much they paled.

"- Just how...

\- Never underestimate a detective, Sakamoto-keiji..." I warned him, unable to hide that smirk on my face now.

"- Oh, come on, the Boss never forbid us ta bring Heiji-kun ta him...

\- Agree..." Naka _-unknown letter-_ ima agreed as he brought his hand to his earplug. "Hey, Ikuo, could ya find out where is the Chief ? ... Ok. He's in Osaka's castle's park, they found a body there..."

Oh, was that going to be my first case of the week ? I was almost thinking about thanking Oyaji for that.

"- Let's go !" I ordered, with more excitation than needed.

Twenty minutes by car and ten minutes walk later, I recognized my genitor's tall silhouette discussing, as always, with Kazuha's father.

My hot-blooded temperament got the best of me once again and I didn't even wait for them to stop speaking before snapping at my father.

"- Oy, Oyaji, can ya explain me why do I have two babysitters stickin' by my ass ?!

\- Language, son."

I almost choked with anger when I saw that he was back to his chat with Toyama, totally ignoring me.

He paused only one second when he spotted the faces of my two nannies who had been approaching, heads half hidden between their shoulders, waiting for the storm to hit.

"- Sakamoto, Nakashima, bring him back home. Unless that mission is also too much fer ya ?"

That was so unfair... I was just asking for answers and that guy was sending me back home, just like you tell some 5 years old kid to go to bed.

"- I want ta know first why ya put me under surveillance." I growled with a defiant look, clenching my fists along my body to keep a low voice despite the fire boiling in me.

"- Not surveillance. Protection."

I didn't see that one coming and I bet that, even in the dark, he had been able to see on my face it was like a cold shower on the blaze of angriness inside of me.

"- ... What ?! Against what ? "

I searched his eyes in search for answers when he stayed silent and spotted, though it could have just been my imagination, what looked like worry.

Since when did Oyaji worry ? He was just a bunch of cold glares and hard looks. Add to that the fact he was the kind to know how exactly a game of chess would end after only five minutes playing it...

No. Way. Just my imagination then.

"- Wait here." He finally ordered to me after a sigh."I need ta finish my task here first an' then, we'll talk about it. Just stay near my men."

That was a first small victory and I hesitated a second before trying to win another one, always uneasy at the idea of asking my father to meddle with one of his case but the urge was too strong. "Let me help ya."

My old man locked his eyes in mine to finally nod. "No touchin'. An' behave.

\- Roger."

I didn't know if he accepted my help because he trusted me or if he wanted to make sure I was going to stay around but I didn't mind. I really needed a case to change my mind.

o.O.o

That was fun how I always felt pretty young when I saw Oyaji at work. I was considering myself as an excellent detective but being with him in a case tended to throw me into a crisis of confidence. I was always a step ahead, and that was already quite enough to impress the passerby and solve some cases. He, on the other hand, had at least five. As disagreeable as it was, I had to admit I still had a lot of things to learn from him.

Though I'd never say it, even over my dead body. No. My problem right now, now that we were standing in the park, a bit isolated of the policemen after he solved that case in barely one half hour, was to know why I got two officers on my back.

"- So ? Why all the mystery ?" I asked with a sigh and an assorted bored look. "I'm not a kid anymore...

\- Ya do act like one though..." Oyaji retorted, his face as annoyed as mine. "Just promise me ya'll behave durin' a few days.

\- Once again. Why ?

\- I know ya, if I tell ya, ya're just goin' ta run in the streets like an ahou.

\- Tell. Me. WHY !" I finally yelled, unable to keep a control on my temper anymore, absolutely pissed off by the lack of faith my genitor had in me.

And then he grabbed my arm. I thought a second it was to hit me with the other, just like he did last time in that very same park. I knew I shouldn't have been barking at him like that, he was my father after all but I just couldn't stop myself.

He threw me on the side to the ground, face first, and stood a second, his back turned to me, before collapsing a bit further away. My ears were ringing and I was confused but I guessed easily this had nothing to do with a punishment. And that whistle followed by a squishy noise I heard when I touched the floor couldn't presage any good.

It reminded me of... Kyûdô. And indeed, when I started to get up, I saw an arrow.

"- Oyaji !" I yelled when I saw it was coming right out of his torso.

My mind started to go blank but I knew I had to go near of him, to compress his wound. But our aggressor had decided I wouldn't and, when another arrow flew close to my head, I rolled behind a nearby tree to take cover, escaping to a third one that ended in the trunk between us.

I clenched my teeth, annoyed not to be able to defend myself against that archer I couldn't see, annoyed not to be able to help my father who was bleeding and probably too much for his own sake. I had no choice, I knew I'd lose all my chances to catch that man but Oyaji was first priority.

"- Oy, officer down ! Call an ambulance !" I yelled with all my lungs, knowing I'd be able to reach the policemen's ears, with them being so close.

"- Yer father won' always protect ya, coward."

I couldn't spot where that voice was coming from but I knew two things. First. It was familiar, though I couldn't identify it. Second, the noise of broken branches indicated the man was taking his leave, meaning I could go to my old man. I hoped. I had been sure of it only when I reached him without any arrow stuck into my head.

"- Heiji-kun, what's the matter ?!" A voice asked behind me, Sakamoto's. I knew he wasn't that far away since he was the one who was supposed to bring me back home and he had been waiting for me to finish my chat.

"- Oyaji, he... Someone shoot him, the guy fled over there !" I told him, my hand towards the bushes I heard move earlier. "Call an ambulance an' send some men after him !

\- Oh my... Got it !"

The man probably left, I didn't know, the only thing I knew when I kneeled by my father was that he had been hurt. And badly.

"- Oy, Oyaji, hold on, the medics are comin', ok ?" I whispered as I removed my jacket to compress his wound, trying to ignore the fact it was so bloody. So close to the heart.

My hands probably hurt him, since he flinched and opened his eyes.

"- Heiji...

\- Don' talk, ya'll tell me later." I pledged him, trying to ignore that little voice in me that was pointing out that 'later' may never come.

I don't know how but I bet he heard that voice too because he nevertheless kept moving and brought a shaking hand on my right cheek.

"- I'm... proud o' ya" was the last thing I expected to come out of his mouth.

"Just ... don'... "

I didn't want him to talk like a dying man. He wasn't dying, not him. No way I could allow him to.

I started to really panic when I felt his hand leaving my face and saw his torso wasn't moving anymore.

"- Oy, Oyaji ! Stay with me ! OYAJI !"

But even with the Otemae hospital so close, Oyaji wasn't alive anymore when he passed through the automatic glass doors of its ER department.


	3. Chapter 2 - Voice

**Chapter 2 : Voice**

* * *

 _Third person PoV_

* * *

It was with sleepy eyes Conan was watching his soup. His 7 a.m. coffee was one of the things he was missing the most since he had ended in this child's body. His lessons being boring as hell since he had learnt all this ten years ago, it usually took him the whole morning to wake up completely and endure a long afternoon of, once again, things he perfectly knew. Or, when he was lucky, it was a sport lesson and that, at least, could entertain him quite a bit.

But nah, today was plain usual, with Maths, Japanese and Music and the bespectacled detective couldn't say any of those were his favourite subjects. Only good news was that today was a Friday.

His spoon nearly slipping from his fingers brought him back to reality as he ended with soup across his face with a grimace.

"- Mo, Conan-kun, you're always so sleepy in the morning..." Ran softly laughed, coming closer and taking her handkerchief out to rub his dirty cheek with it.

"- Sorry..." The azure-eyed boy apologized with embarrass, hesitating in stopping her but enjoying the fact the girl was so close so he gave up and let her do with a slight blush.

"- Here, better ! Now go brush your teeth while I tidy that !" She ordered him with a smile.

"- Haaaiii !"

o.O.o

The child was barely finishing to dry his face in a towel when the bathroom's door opened, allowing him to see Ran's face in the mirror. Her face was pale and her eyes shiny, and even without being the detective he was, it was obvious something happened.

"- ... Ran-neechan ?" He dared to asked, turning to her to see she had her phone in her hand and that that hand was shaking.

"- It was Kazuha-chan... Hattori-kun's..."

Conan's heart stopped a moment while she gulped to finish her phrase.

"- Hattori-kun's father has been... He has been killed yesterday night."

Breathing again since he had feared for a second his best friend has performed his last hot-blooded stunt in a case, the azure-eyed boy was nevertheless hit by the information. Hattori's father being a policeman, this was of course a risk but it was still a harsh blow.

"- How are they taking it ? " He finally asked, picking that one question among the bunch that had spawn into his mind since it was probably the only one a 7 years old would have asked.

"- Kazuha-chan was shocked, she said she hadn't been able to sleep... And she was worried about Hattori-kun, apparently he was there when it happened... She asked me if we could come, she seems to hope you'd be able to cheer him a bit, since you two are so close. But there's school, I need to ask to Tou-san... Should we wait until tomorrow ...?"

The small detective stayed silent a second, while Ran kept asking herself questions which were more to hide her stress than to bring any decision, time to process the bad news coming one after the other.

"- We should wait tomorrow." He proposed with a low voice so she'd stop to stress about it. "If the wake is tonight, we would only hinder them...

\- You're right, what was I thinking... I'll check with Tou-san and call her back... Go to school, Conan-kun, I'll be looking after that.

\- Tell me if you have any other news !" The boy asked her as he grabbed his backpack and headed to the door.

"- I will !"

A few minutes later, Conan was out, his phone in his hand, dialling Hattori's number. But, well, he had been expecting it a bit, no one answered. Answering to the phone would probably be the last of his best friend's preoccupations on a day like this.

The boy quickly sent a text to the detective boys to warn them he wouldn't meet them as usual to go to school and headed to the closest shop to buy the morning's newspaper. Ok, this was Tokyo's but now way it wouldn't mention the murder of the head of the police of Osaka.

And indeed, it was covering the half-bottom of the first page.

The article explained how the superintendant general was finishing solving a case and had been attacked afterwards. One arrow straight into the heart. The reporter wasn't mentioning Hattori's presence on the crime scene, perhaps because he was a minor or because the police sealed the information.

The end of the text was concluding the suspect was still on the loose, without real hints to help find his identity.

 _"Ok, now, I'm worried..."_ He frowned as he understood this case was far from closed, meaning his best friend would probably throw himself into it, despite all the emotional implications which were sure to cloud his reasoning.

The azure-eyed child would have been more satisfied to come to Osaka as soon as possible to help Hattori but he knew he had to be patient, one day wouldn't change a lot of things. Though he would have preferred his friend to answer his phone...

 _"I'll try later..."_ He promised to himself.

o.O.o

But that later hadn't been any more successful than his first try so it was without real news about Hattori that he found himself in front of his door the following morning.

They had been taking the first Shinkansen to Osaka and, after a short stop at Kazuha's house where they were going to stay not to hinder Heiji's mother, Ran, Kazuha and Conan had been heading to the detective of the West's house while Kogoro stayed with Kazuha's father to speak with serious faces of the case and would probably head to the police station later to see if he could help.

A face that looked familiar but wasn't opened the door. The owner of that face was a man in his forties, a kind of Hattori Heizô without the moustache and with softer traits.

"- Kazuha-chan ?

\- Ohayô, Yamato-han." The ponytailed girl said with a small smile. "Here are the friends I spoke ta ya about, Mouri Ran-chan and Edogawa Conan-kun.

\- Nice ta meet ya. I'm Hattori Yamato, Heiji's uncle.

\- Mouri Ran, nice to meet you." The female Tokyoite answered with a bow as the small detective did the same, still looking at the man with curiosity. He didn't know Hattori had an uncle but, seeing his face, there was no doubt that the man belonged to the Hattori family, to his father's side.

"- Come in !"

The group followed the man and, after removing their shoes, stepped into the wide house, trying to be as silent as possible, not wanting to disturb any member of the family who could be here.

"- Don' worry, only me an' Heiji are here." Yamato declared when he noticed their discomfort.

"- Oba-chan is out ? " Kazuha wondered.

"- Yea, some paperwork ta do apparently… So she asked me ta stay here with Heiji. Though, since he doesn' get out o' his room, I don' feel I'm really useful. Want ta try ta speak with him first ?

\- That ahou…" The ponytailed girl sighed as she shook her head. "Yes, let's try ! He wouldn' be that rude, refusin' ta see ya two when ya did all that way ta visit him…"

But apparently, he could be, since they didn't get any answer when they knocked at his door. The small detective had been expecting not to be able to see his friend but more because he was expecting him to be out and hunting down the culprit, not because of a wooden panel. While this was relieving him to see he wasn't running around like a mad dog, it was worrying him to see Hattori was that inactive, so far away from his usual character. No way, he wasn't going to let him sink in this kind of depression.

"- We'll try later, don' take it too personally…" The middle-aged man concluded with a sad smile before heading back to the stairs. "Let me at least offer ya some tea…"

The three of them followed him to what was probably the living room, a huge place with traditional settings.

"- I'll be right back." He announced, before stepping towards the kitchen.

"- I didn't know Hattori-kun had an uncle ?" Ran asked with curiosity, trying to bring a subject that wouldn't be too depressing.

"- Ah, well, there was some kind of disagreement in the family so they stopped ta see each other quite a while… It was a silly thin' but they solved it only a few months ago. It's a bit of a waste seein' what happens today…" The girl deplored as she shook her head. "Though I'm glad he's here fer Oba-chan and Heiji…

\- Have you been able to talk to him since ?

\- No… I understand he's shocked, with everythin' that happened but how can I help him if he doesn' even want ta talk … ?" Kazuha's voice almost broke at this last sentence and the tears she was holding back since they met her this morning were appearing at the corner of her eyes.

"- Hey, it's ok…" The Tokyoite whispered as she came closer to hold her friend.

 _"_ _No, it isn't"_ Conan thought with a frown as he discreetly got up to head upstairs.

If he had to, he was going to quick Hattori's butt until he got a grip on himself. And a locked door wasn't the kind of thing that would stop him, even in this body.

o.O.o

* * *

 _Heiji's PoV_

* * *

"- Hattori, that's me." I heard at the other side of the door.

I wasn't really surprised to recognize Kudô's voice, in fact, I was more surprised by the fact it took him so long to come and try again. I hesitated a second to open the door, still not really wanting to talk to anyone but I knew I was taking the risk to see a soccer ball bursting through it if I didn't.

"- We both know that door won't last long if I get serious, Hattori, so save me the trouble to have to explain why it has been blasted…"

Here it was, the threat, right as planned.

"- Comin' " I declared as I got up with a sigh.

I unlocked the door without really looking at him and settled back on my bed, grabbing a pillow to put my head on it.

After a long silence, I felt "Conan-kun" throwing himself on the bed near of my feet.

"- So ? Did you find any hints in that room ?"

The question was ironic, I knew it, so I decided to ignore it.

"- I was wondering if I'd have to look for you through the whole city of Osaka but looks like I worried for nothing..."

Did I look that bad for him to try to anger me about my detective's policy ? I didn't sleep much and had seen better days but... I was myself. Kinda. A myself with a huge brick in the stomach and a wide hole through the heart but myself.

"- I'm grounded" I finally declared as an explanation to his comments.

"- Grounded ?

\- I'm still waitin' ta know why though..." I stopped a second to gulp, feeling my voice was hoarse, for not speaking for a few days and for well... I guess that, female or not, when something like this hits you, it's just impossible not to shed one or two tears. Perhaps more. Probably more. "Fer my 'protection' apparently...

\- It rarely stopped you..." Kudô pointed out with a sad smirk.

"- I needed some calm, so I didn' really fight ta get out.

\- I guess... Want to talk about it ...?"

I knew what he was offering wasn't what I was looking for. I didn't need - or let's more honestly say "didn't want" - someone to lend me a shoulder to cry on. Not yet. What I needed now, right now, was a detective. A good one. A great one even. And my best friend just happened to be one.

But that also meant I had to tell him. That story I managed to tell only once to Toyama-han, right after ... it happened.

I took a deep breath and locked my eyes in his.

"- I need ta talk, yea. But that's about the case."

Kudô nodded and his piercing eyes focused on me. Right, detective mode. I knew I could count on him for that.

"- ... That voice, from that guy who ... murdered Oyaji. I know it. I just can' remember who the owner o' that voice is..." I deplored, after finishing my story, and I ruffed my hair with frustration, trying to fight my urge to yell with anger or cry with pain or both, that urge I felt since that dreadful night.

"- Someone from a former case you think ?"

I nodded a yes to his question so he went on.

"- Have you tried to focus only on the ones who could have a grudge against your father or you and could use a bow ?

\- We're so close ta Kyoto, half the people in here have at least held a bow once. An' with all the cases I solved, eh, havin' a grudge against me is also a standard... Same fer Oyaji, considerin' his line o' work..."

I had already thought about it a thousand times two nights ago. I could find dozen of names without even thinking too much about it.

"- But most should be in jail, right ?

\- That just means we can add their relatives on the list o' the suspects..."

Once again a very depressing conclusion, the same that I had last night.

Kudô got up, taking his chin between his fingers as he started to circle in my room, his brain almost fuming with hyperactivity.

"- You said it was pretty dark, right ?

\- Yea.

\- And you were wearing dark clothes ?

\- That's a yes again...

\- Then you're not looking for someone who held a bow once or twice in his life, you're looking for someone well trained. And forget anyone with glasses, their sight is usually too poor by night to be able to perform such a shoot.

\- Eh, that's only if they're not cheatin', just like ya are, tryin' ta look inoffensive with yer bespectacled face..." I involuntary grinned.

Before paling a few shades.

"- ... That bastard ! It's that fuckin' bastard !

\- What ? Remembered anything ?"

I ignored my best friend's comment to get up and take the phone I left on my desk, almost letting it fall on the floor with excitation.

"- Oy, Otaki-han !

\- Hei-chan ?! Are ya... ? Ya ok ?"

I could feel the worry in his voice. That was also part of why I didn't want to talk to anyone. I didn't want pity. I wanted answers. And the idea of everyone looking at me with a sad face, just like another of those victims' relatives was driving me mad.

"- Later. Otaki-han, no lies, Saijô Taiga escaped from prison last Thursday, right ?

\- Eh ?! How did ya ... Uh... I mean, I don' know..."

But his clumsy stuttering was far enough of an answer to me.

"- Protection, eh... Got it now..." I concluded as I hung up. The pieces of the puzzle were coming in place perfectly.

"- Saijô Taiga ? Why does it ring a bell... ?" I heard my best friend ask while I took my jacket and put my cap on my face, visor front, as usual when I was on a case.

"- Because ya helped me ta arrest that bastard." I answered before storming out of my room, barely hearing his "Oy, Hattori !" when he tried to stop me.

* * *

 **Ok, time to stop for a little explanation for the title, since I usually don't use such flashy names...**

 **"Taiga" is pronounced the same way than 'a tiger' in Japanese, so it's a kind of joke there, for those who wear this name. My 'tiger's wrath' is nothing more than 'Taiga's wrath'.**

 **As to who is Taiga... You know that name also, just try to remember, you have until Sunday ; )**


	4. Chapter 3 - Old acquaintance

**Heya !**

 **Ok, after that depressing start (sorry Heizo ! :' ( ), let's move into the investigation !**

 **And meet an old... friend ? haha... ^^**

 **o.O.o**

 **emmahoshi : Haha yeah, this story starts harshly, once again. And no, it won't be a story that depressing :p And nice memory here, yea, Taiga is that guy (he did shoot Heiji with an arrow but what brought him in the hospital was a fight with bokken). I didn't want this story to be too depressing, seeing I'm using first person and all, so I didn't really describe the first two days after Heizo died, but you can guess those days haven't been easy ones for him. The investigation is of course Heiji's way to cope, to get out of his room after these two days, since it's no really in his character to just get depressed. But that doesn't mean we won't see his "carapace" crack from time to time, who'd stay calm in such a situation ? ^^;;;**

 **estelle : Thanks for being here once again : )**

 **Varun Dhawan : Moved to see my fic gave you the urge to put a review, I know phones aren't really easy to write with^^;**

* * *

 **Chapter 3 : Old acquaintance**

* * *

One half hour later, we were both on my bike, travelling at high speed towards Kyoto. Everything began there, I was sure to get some information about what happened if I went straight to the police station.

Saijô Taiga...

That man had killed several persons, starting with the owner of a little restaurant in Osaka I was pretty fond of.

That's what got me on that case. I had taken my bike for a trip to Kyoto, wanting to find answers, to instead find my best friend sticking his reduced nose everywhere around, on a case that, at first look, seemed unrelated but, well, it turned out to be the exact same culprit. A few scratches later, as always for me on a big case, that bastard had kidnapped Kazuha to force me to give him what I thought was a pearl belonging to my first love, when it was only an 'eye' from a Buddha statue. Disappointing, I had to admit. Though, since I found out in that case who that first love was, I guess it didn't matter anymore. I was still surprised today to have found out I've been so long in lov...

I shook my head, now was not exactly the time to think about a certain ponytailed girl.

Focus.

Ok, back to the case. After a short but intense appearance of our guest star Kudô-in-his-shiny-knight-armour and a fight against that kendoka that looked taken right out of an old samurai movie, we managed to arrest him. For theft. And murderS.

So those guys in Kyoto better had some good answers as to why he was hanging around in the park around Osaka's castle.

o.O.o

Oh. Joy. Was the first thing I thought when I saw who the reception had sent to welcome us.

"- Hattori Heiji-kun." The inspector briefly saluted as he came closer to Conan and me. "I am very sorry for your recent loss."

I didn't know what was worse. To see I had in front of me the inspector of the Kyoto's police I hated the most or for that chipmunk-dumbass to almost seem to be sincere about what he just said.

The hell, if what his colleagues said was true, he was the one in charge of the convoy that was supposed to bring Saijô to the court, that very one during which he escaped.

"- Ayanokoji Fumimaro... - han" I finally answered with a small sign of the head, my tone as cold as an arctic gale.

I guess he felt some of my hostility since he sighed before speaking again.

"- I heard you were looking for me ?

\- Yea, I'd like ta know how a serial killer from a jail in Kyoto ended in Osaka with a bow an' a thirst fer blood ?

\- I understand you are upset but no one could have ever foreseen, seeing his profile, that this man was the kind who could get external help, a very well informed, organized and dangerous one...

\- Keep yer crappy excuses fer yerself an ' stop with the bullshit. Just admit _ya_ messed up an' _we_ picked up the pieces !"

I knew I was going too far before even feeling Kudô grabbing my pants and trying to hush me with a discreet "Hattori !" but I couldn't stop myself. I already couldn't stand that guy so the idea his lack of professionalism was the main cause of ... what happened to Oyaji was flying me into a dark rage.

Ayanokoji, on his side, was just watching me with his usual cool, looking down on me like you'd look down at a 6 years old making a scene.

"- I am, once again, sincerely sorry about what happened to the Superintendent General Hattori and also wish for swift justice to the culprit. I therefore gave the information I possessed to his successor. It will be his choice to imply you in that case. Or not. It isn't mine.

\- Yea, got that, I'll call ya if I don' need anythin' ...!"

The inspector didn't even flinch, the insult once again slipping on him like water on a snake's skin - and I couldn't say it helped for me to calm down, so I decided to turn away to interrogate Otaki-han or Tôyama-han.

"- You are to leave with a police escort, Hattori Heiji-kun. What happened Thursday evening proved what we feared when he escaped : he's coming after you.

\- I noticed. As ta the escort, don' bother. I wouldn' want ta feel in debt with ya." I concluded with a defiant glare before turning my back to him and heading towards the entrance, keeping for myself my urge to slam something.

o.O.o

"- … ttori ! Hattori ! "

I turned to my best friend to see, at his expression, it wasn't the first time he called me. Well, I perhaps left the police station a bit quickly, seeing how much he panted, and that meant he had probably to run to follow me.

" - Yea ?

\- What was that ?

\- A long way not ta have any answers apparently." I bluntly summed up as I grabbed my helmet.

"- How could you hope to have any, seeing how you talked to him ? You need to calm down…

\- Calm down ? I am calm." I assured as I held his helmet to him after I put mine, a bit hurt and feeling he was unfair since I honestly thought I was pretty much controlling myself seeing what happened.

"- You are many things right now, Hattori, but calm isn't part of the picture. Get a grip on yourself, you can't just kick doors and insult the ones who could give you some information, that won't help you to progess in that investigation..."

Clenching my fists with anger, I turned to look at Kudô to snap at him, but stopped when I saw his calm face. There wasn't any reproach in his eyes, he was just stating facts.

And I was too upset to notice it.

Pausing a second, I took a deep breath to shoo away a bit all those emotions twirling inside of me.

"- I don' want ta hear that guy is runnin' free any longer…" I finally explained, trying to keep a low voice. "An' knowin' there isn' any proof, just my testimony is…" I didn't finish my phrase and gulped as I mounted on my bike. "I'm goin' back ta Osaka. If ya don' like my ways, I can bring ya back ta Kazuha's house.

\- I'm good, Hattori. I'm just telling you to keep your cool. At least better than ten minutes ago." He pointed out as put his helmet and got on the bike too, circling my waist with his tiny arms.

My lips answered "Got it" while my mind thought "No way" when I started the engine.

No way I could keep my cool. Not after what that man had done to Oyaji. Not when it was my fault. Because I was sure of it now. Saijô wanted to have his revenge on me and my old man had been on the way, that's all. If I hadn't been so close to a bunch of policemen, I'd probably be dead too. And if I had listened to Oyaji's subordinates and came home like a good boy, all of this would have never happened…

o.O.o

I was taken out of my dark ruminations barely ten minutes later by the noise of a horn from a car that was passing me at high speed, before suddenly stopping in front of me.

My reflexes took over and I threw the bike to the right, hoping there wouldn't be anyone, almost scratching his right back light, avoiding the shock by a handful of millimetres.

"- Oy, the hell !" I yelled through my helmet, stopping at the driver's level and rising dramatically both my hands, when I saw there was nothing in front of the car except for a green light.

And then, my mind just went blank. Because the face of the driver belonged to the exact man I was looking for.

Did that damn dude follow me from Osaka to taunt me after my useless trip to Kyoto ? That would be... So much like him. He had already proven he was quite the stalker a few months ago when he chased me and Kazuha with a bike on our way back to Osaka.

With a smirk, he started his engine and our mad dash through the roads of the former capital started.

I knew I should have been careful, with Kudô on board, but I just couldn't ignore that taunting. Saijô was here, in the very city he escaped from, driving with a smirk on his face as if nothing happened. With all the charges against him, that guy's trial would have ended either with death row or life imprisonment. And last time I checked, it wasn't involving high-speed chase at the wheel of a powerful foreign car.

We drove through the city before ending in a kind of empty area, just near the place where the Katsura-gawa met the Kamo-gawa, where he finally stopped after a sharp u-turn to face us, playing joyfully with the accelerator pedal, clearly defying me.

"- If that's how ya want ta play it... Kudô, go down." I ordered, playing with the accelerator to have some nervous noises out of my engine.

"- Hattori, just don't play his game..." The boy behind me advised with a cold tone, nevertheless listening to me.

"- I'm not playin' ta let him win.

\- He's got a damn car and you a bike, just think about..."

The end of his warning got lost as Saijô and I both accelerated, throwing our vehicles at each other's.

We came closer and closer, neither of us wanting to give up, to the point I could see straight into his eyes, seeing there was only madness there, just like when we faced in that temple of Kyoto's suburbs. I was taken by the slightest doubt, thinking I perhaps just should stop that stupid game of will and turn to avoid him.

But no. Perhaps another day, I would have had more sense and would have steered but not today.

And it was something like one half second before the shock I remembered I could die. And waste that life my father died to protect.

But the shock came before I could even think about a way to prevent that worst scenario to happen.

o.O.o

"- Oy, ya ok, young man ?"

The face bending on me wasn't familiar, and it took me second to remember what I was doing on my back in the wet grass bordering the road, a middle age worker at my side. Probably the guardian of the nearby factory, since it was a Saturday, there shouldn't be any worker around.

"- I called the police and an ambulance..." I heard Kudô's voice state when he came closer.

"- Thank ya, boya !

\- No need fer an ambulance..." I ranted, removing my helmet as I sat, still a bit shaking but feeling in great shape, when I compared the few scratches and bruises I felt to my bike. My dear bike was once again... Definitively out of service. Bye bye allowance for a few months, this was going straight to the insurance's pocket ...

I remembered I steered at the last moment, but the car still brushed my bike, sending me flying toward the side of the road while my vehicle kept going straight.

Feeling something under my left hand, I looked at it and found, as I was expecting, a deflated soccer ball. I had felt I was kind of cushioned when I landed, and that was thanks to one of my best friend's gadgets. I'd have to thank him for that. I probably wouldn't be in such a good shape without it.

"- Ya sure ?

\- Yea, sorry fer disturbin' ya... Don' worry about me, I'll just wait here fer the cops an' explain them all."

The man didn't seem pretty motivated to leave me alone despite my efforts.

"- It's ok, I'll be with Heiji-niichan, I won't let him get up before the ambulance arrives !" Kudô declared with a proud voice.

"- I'm countin' on ya then, boya !" He answered, ruffling the boy's hair, to - I knew it - his displeasure. "An' I'll be in the buildin' right ther', call me if the cops or yer friend need me !

\- Hai !"

Kudô and I looked at the guardian as he went back to his post and closed the door behind him.

And the second later, I was punched in the face. Hard. Much harder than I ever thought Kudô would be able to, in this reduced body.

"- What the heck was that ?!

\- He was goin' ta run away !" I yelled back at him, rubbing my hurt cheek, shocked to see the boy's angry face, something I didn't witness often, since Kudô was the kind to keep his cool 24/7.

"- Run away ?! He was just provoking you ! And you, you jumped in with both feet and that almost killed you ! Just try for a second not to have yourself killed, your father didn't protect you for that... So take care of yourself and stop putting yourself in dangerous situations because you feel guilty !

\- Wh... What ?! I just want ta arrest that guy !

\- Then use your brain instead of rushing in ! You ending in the hospital won't help the investigation going any further !"

My eyes widened even more at his repeated yells. The hell, he didn't understand anything.

"- Ya're not gettin' it... Not gettin' it at all ! Ya just can' understand ! Ya didn'..."

Feeling my voice was breaking, I didn't finish my phrase and instead looked at my feet.

"- Lose my father ? No, I didn't. But that won't stop me to understand your pain, at least a bit."

Feeling his tiny hand on my shoulder, I turned to look at him, a wave of sadness wanting to overwhelm me when I saw the concern and the compassion in his eyes.

"- It's my fault... If I had listened ta him, he'd be still alive...

\- And you'd perhaps be dead. We could remake the world with a bunch of 'if' but in the end, that won't change today's situation. Here."

Kudô hold to me my cap, it had probably fell from my pants with the choc, before settling against my back.

"- We report this to the police and have you checked. And after that, we head back to Osaka to see Otaki-keibu, ok ?"

I gratefully put the cap on my head, bending a bit the visor to hide my face with relief, not wanting anyone to see it right now.

"- Ok." I whispered.


	5. Chapter 4 - Back home

**Heya !**

 **Look at who has been hot-blooded, like always ^^;**

 **Time to pay for it, I'll have Heiji being lectured by both Saguru and Ayanokoji ! Nah, joking, see, I'm not _that_ mean with him xD**

 **o.O.o**

 **emmahoshi : Heh, yea, that's cruel to like to see people cracking :p But I think I guess why, those are always intense moments... : ) Though Heiji is a bit more 'human-sided' than Shin, in my opinion ^^ Haha, well, you see the guy half the movie so he isn't that much of a side character ; ) It's just that his face changes pretty much in the final scene + the fact he wore a mask a lot so I don't think it's easy to link all those faces of him ^^;;; Ah, see, I told you I was going to show it a bit ; ) And yea, I liked the idea of Conan punching Heiji. I think he has been scared and lost his cool. For once ^^ Hmm Shin did kick one of his weapons with a ball but it was dark, I don't think the guy even noticed where it came from. So nah, I'm not going in that direction... There'll be something else though ; ) Uh, thanks for noticing that, I corrected it ^^; I don't know why word doesn't point this out as a mistake... So I let it in French ^^; I taught you a word then xD Same prononciation that English, easy, right ? ; )**

 **Anilover : Yup, after "Sunflowers" that was pretty much lacking of Heiji, I had to go back to my first loves xD Yup, it's quite used in the mangas/animes, that's why I though it as a bit poor but pretty fun to use such a title xD Ah well, that bad guy from the 7th movie was a bad ass... Kicking Heiji's ass in Kendo, shooting arrow from long distances or on a bike... That guy is a killing machine ! So it was fun to use him again^^ Hehe, well, with "cold drugs" and "sunflowers", I was taking a slight break : I wanted to write some stories where the BO wasn't the culprit, since I felt I was always using them as bad guys... As to this one... I won't say anything ! Nah, well, we'll see them, as to in which role and which importance, time will tell you :p And nice too to have you back ! ; )**

* * *

 **Chapter 4 : Back home**

* * *

"- Hei-chan !"

I turned my head towards the entrance when I recognized the familiar nickname my favourite policeman used to call me.

So he was the one they sent, well, I couldn't say I was surprised. Kyoto's police station had called Osaka's for them to send someone to retrieve me since they didn't want me to leave without any escort. I still thought I was big enough to take care of myself but a certain little detective sitting right next to me on that bench didn't agree. He had thrown to me a glare so dark my cheek started to hurt again at the reminder of his previous punch so I had given up and sat like a good boy while waiting for my babysitter.

"- Ya ok ?" The officer asked as he came to meet us and noticed my dirty cloths and the bandage around my left elbow.

"- Yea, yea, just scratches..." I said with a shrug as I got up.

Otaki-han's eyes nevertheless stayed on me, slightly suspicious. Well, he knew me well enough to be aware that 'scratches' in my vocabulary could go from bruises to broken bones so no wonder he was trying to guess if there was more behind what I said. But nah, my back stung a bit and my elbow was twisted but we were just talking about bruises. So I just smirked at his silent examination.

"- Not trustin' me, eh ?

\- Prefer ta double check..." The officer answered, mirroring my smile.

"- That's the truth." Kudô confirmed as he also got on his feet to smile at the plumb man.

"- Oh, hello, Conan-kun !

\- Hello ! "

"- Ah, I see you already found them..."

That new voice was my least favourite of the place, Ayanokoji's.

"- Yea, thanks fer informin' us, Ayanokoji, we were indeed quite worried on our side... An' sorry fer the trouble."

I bowed my head at his words, understanding me suddenly leaving the house had been worrying more than one and that Osaka's police had probably sent some officers to look for me. I didn't know what was worse. To know that Toyama-han had used resources to look after me when he needed them to look for Oyaji's murder. Or to know that I'd have to face the half-worried half-scolding stern gaze of my mother when she already had her hands full enough.

Thinking with my brain eh ? I should perhaps try to follow my best friend's advice if I wanted to stop worrying my relatives...

When I looked up again, Otaki-han was watching me, a question in his eyes. My brain looked for the conversation I had been hearing while I was lost in my thoughts and I remembered.

"- Yea, let's go." I confirmed before stepping directly towards the door.

No way I'd thank or apologize to that chipmunk-loving inspector so better leave as soon as possible.

o.O.o

A while later, we were on his car, the policeman and me at the front and Kudô behind, heading to Osaka. But that also meant we were going to have some quality time to chat, so it was time to ask some questions...

"- So ? What happened on Thursday ? I know ya know, Otaki-han..."

The man sighed, having probably been expecting that question.

"- Hei-chan, yer father didn' want ya ta know..."

Yea, once again that excuse... No. way. I wouldn't let Toyama-han and him hide the truth behind Oyaji's ghost.

"- He's not here anymore, so let's stop with the complicated plans an' head directly ta the part ya tell us how Saijô escaped."

Once again, my big friend sighed, and, once again, because he knew who I was quite well, he gave up.

"- Hei-chan... I'll tell ya but promise me ya won' do anythin' stupid, ok ? Policemen are already leadin' this investigation, no need fer ya ta meddle in it.

\- I can' an' ya know it."

I wasn't going to promise I'd give up the investigation of that case, he was out of his mind to ask for it...

Otaki-han ruffled his hair with annoy but nevertheless spoke again.

"- Crap, Hei-chan, at least promise me ta be cautious...

\- That I can do.

\- Will do fer the moment then... It happened on Thursday's mornin'. Saijô's trial was supposed ta begin that day. Ta be honest, everyone thought it was goin' ta be fast, the lawyer didn' even need yer testimony, there were so many proofs... Since there wasn' anythin' special with the guy, it was just standard security protocol. An unmarked car, three inspectors, a hand-cuffed culprit. Nothin' more, nothin' less.

\- Not enough, apparently..." I pointed out darkly, to see as his nod that the policeman agreed.

"- Clearly. Out o' those three inspectors, two are dead. The other is still unconscious at the hospital. The car has been attacked in the tunnel under Inariyama. The guys - at least three o' them accordin' ta the footprints - had automatic weapons and piercin' bullets. The pictures o' what was remainin' o' the car were just..."

I felt more than I saw Kudô's intense look on my neck. Yea, I knew I had been unfair with Ayanokoji, from the beginning... But I was feeling uneasy now, to have snapped at that inspector when he lost two of his men and had a third in critical condition...

Pushing that guilt away, I focused back on Otaki-han's story.

"- Kyoto's police couldn' find anythin' on the cameras... This team knew when an' where ta hit not ta be caught on any screen.

\- How many knew the itinerary ? And the time ? " My best friend asked, clearly trying to reduce our culprit list.

"- Hmm, fer the itinerary, it was the same as usual so I'd say anyone , even with a low level o' information.

\- An' the time ? " I dared to ask, though I knew I had good chances not to like the answer.

"- The team in the car. Ayanokoji. An' his boss, the superintendent Tanioka."

Indeed. I really hated when I was right. Well, on this kind of matter, as to the other things, of course I was glad to be right as a detective.

But we were talking about treason. And the list was quite short. Ayanokoji and Tanioka were of course the closest of the top but we couldn't ignore the possibility of the mole's employer to have betrayed him and killed or tried to kill him during the operation.

The only way for our informer not to be in that list was perhaps... A hacking ?

"- Was it mentioned anywhere ? In an email or a file on a computer maybe ?"

That was my next question but Kudô had been faster.

"- The file was paper only but there were perhaps a few mails exchanged between the members o' the team an' Ayanokoji...

\- I like that guy less an' less..." I grumbled, noticing his name was popping more and more in the investigation.

"- Ya shouldn' . He's the one who warned us when Saijô escaped, askin' us ta put ya under protection since the guy seemed pretty obsessed with ya, even in jail. We shouldn' even have been informed, since this case happened in Kyoto."

I looked at him, not really convinced. I knew that, as a detective, I shouldn't let my personal feelings interfere but... I just couldn't get along that petty guy. Period.

"- So ? Why didn' any o' ya tell me he escaped ?

\- Well, since last time he kidnapped Kazuha an' tried ta kill ya, we thought that maybe ya'd try ta go after him... That would have been dangerous, above all if he an' his friends with automatic weapons were after ya so we decided we'd just put a discreet surveillance on ya.

\- Discreet ? Try some other officers next time, I felt them on my neck even before leavin' the school..." I snorted without laughing. " 'We' ?

\- Tôyama, yer father an' me... The three o' us knew ya the best so we decided ta chose together what would be the wisest decision an' that's what we all came with. Sorry about that but we were only thinkin' about yer safety, Hei-chan..."

I shook my head, not wanting to comment this decision I thought was stupid. And lowering me at the level of a child. To know that the three most important men in my life thought I was just a mad dog was hurting. Safety measure or not.

"- We also decided ta have two men tailin' Kazuha-chan, since last time he used her as a leverage against ya, we didn' want that ta happen again. She doesn' seem ta have noticed yet.

\- Do ya really think it'll be enough ? This guy hasn' been afraid ta attack me with something like twenty policemen around...

\- I'll check with Toyama-han if we can add one or two men ta Kazuha-chan's protection. But the more we assign ta that mission, the less we'll have fer the investigation so..."

But I wasn't listening anymore, as a wave of emotions took over me. I clenched my fists and exhaled deeply to keep my calm, as Kudô advised it to me.

I was angry, I was hurt, I was worried but I couldn't let any of these emotions cloud my judgment. Kazuha was going to be safe, I had to believe it else I'd never be able to focus on the case. She was strong and Nee-chan was with her so anyone ill-intended would need a little army to knock them down.

"- Heiji-niichan, was Saijô-san alone when you saw him the first time ?

\- Yea. It looked like he was also alone earlier this mornin'...

\- It's a bit strange then, where are the friends who freed him ? It would have been easier to come after you if they were many..." My best friend went on, still using his childish _"Alele, I'm just a kid but isn't it strange that...?"_ tone.

"- We didn' see them but they're at least helpin' with the material... There's a warrant against Saijô, no way he could buy a bow or rent a car that easily..." I pointed out, nevertheless still startled by the bad guys' teamwork.

"- Yea, that's strange... Ok guys, we're here."

I looked by the car's window to indeed recognize my own house.

"- Can ya send us everythin' ya have about the evasion an' ... Thursday's attack?

\- Ok but promise me ya'll behave. I'll keep ya informed if anythin' new so don' move from that house. An' if ya absolutely need ta, call me or Toyama-han, ya can' have us worry about where ya are like this mornin'...

\- I promise. An' I'm sorry..." I deplored as guilt came back in my throat.

"- Don' fret about it. Laters !"

After a last nod at the officer, I got off the car and waved him good bye.

Once alone with my best friend, I looked at him, still thinking about the case.

"- Still, why didn' Saijô finish what he had begun ? It would have been quite easy ta finish me back there in Kyoto. Ok, ya an' this guardian were here an' the police was on the way but, gifted as he is, this wouldn' have stopped him...

\- I was startled also, at the beginning...

\- An' now ?"

Kudô's eyes were grave as the laid on me.

"- He's playing with you and your nerves, Hattori.

\- ... Bastard." I swore as I squinted, realising that would explain a lot of things. Starting by why I was standing on both my feet right now after two of his attacks.

"- Let's think about that inside, I'm starting to starve..." The boy admitted with a small smile of embarrassment when noises coming from his stomach got me out of my daydream.

"- Yea."

We barely walked halfway the alley when the door slammed open, almost thrown out of his rails to reveal a familiar silhouette. Kazuha's.

"- Heiji ! I knew I heard a car's door... " She yelled as she rushed to me, to welcome me with a slap.

Great, second of the day. Though, I was kind of expecting that one. Probably deserved it as much as Kudô's but why always the left cheek ? Damn right-handed, I was seriously going to bruise there soon.

"- I can' believe ya... Could ya imagine how worried we were ?!" She went on, slamming her fists on my chest with anger.

I was so glad I fell backwards earlier during that crash with my bike, else that would have clearly hurt, she wasn't really holding back. Wounded or not, it had nothing agreeable so I grabbed her wrists.

"- Oy, Kazuha..." I softly called, plunging my eyes in hers. "I'm sorry. I should have warned ya an' Yamato when I left."

My calm seemed to reach her and she stopped, doing her best to keep a straight face, despite the mix of anger and concern in her look.

"- Ya better explain..." She retorted, turning her back at me to go back inside.

"- I will." I assured with a small encouraging smile.

Seeing Yamato was on the door's threshold, I unconsciously avoided his look, knowing I probably also disappointed him.

"- Look at that, I take my eyes off ya two minutes an' ya come back with bruises." He dramatically sighed after grabbing my wounded elbow and seeing my grimace.

"- Sorry ...

\- Don' be. Just tell me if ya have anythin' that needs ta be tended." He proposed with a smile as he ruffled my hair.

"- I'm good, I've been taken care o'. But thanks." I said, mirroring his smile.

I had always been fond of my uncle. Someone simple, with a nice sense of humour and not the kind to worry about little details. I'm still wondering how he and Oyaji could have stayed that long angry with each other. Adults' problems they said. It seemed quite childish to me though.

"- An' apologize ta yer mother..." He added with a low voice and a wink.

Yea, this wasn't going to be easy but I was planning to.


	6. Chapter 5 - Night chat

**Hey, it's me again !**

 **Time for a calmer chapter today, with a bit of KazuHei... And food poisoning? xD**

 **But don't worry, the investigation is still going on, we'll get closer to our answers next chapter !**

 **o.O.o**

 **emmahoshi : Oh, that's an interesting question and we'll get the answer later in the story... ; ) Ah, well, it'll be a more cute moment... Quite the appropriate scene for what is in France today Mother's day in fact^^ Haha, yea, we'll see Kaito later in the story but I don't think we'll see Hakuba... He's quite far away from Heiji universe so... Hmm yea, some people in the DC universe seem to be convince that, the colder you are, the better detective you'll be. And then there's Heiji. If his method was that bad, I guess he wouldn't be the "great detective of the West", right ? But yea, you can feel that the "ideal" detective in DC is like Conan Doyle's. Cold and observant. Tsk, go ahead Heiji, show them all you can be both hot blooded and good detective ! xD**

* * *

 **Chapter 5 : Night chat**

* * *

"- Excuse me a sec'... I'll meet ya in the livin' room" I said to the group with a reassuring smile, not wanting them to think I'd use the opportunity to escape once again.

Turning my back at them, I headed towards the kitchen, where I knew I'd find my mother. She wasn't really good at cooking, we had the maid for that, but when she was stressed or sad or just in a bad mood, she... let's say "tried" to cook.

Disastrous, of course, since she never learnt how to prepare a meal, but well, it was also a way for Oyaji and me to amend for whatever we did wrong while forcing ourselves to eat something that was barely edible.

I smiled at the memory. It was perhaps one of the only moments of complicity I'd have with my father... This kind of memories was so rare I could count them on the fingers of one hand. Sadly. And it was too late to do anything about it.

I gulped to display a straight face as I slid the kitchen's door aside to enter. Okan didn't move but I knew she heard me, since she could recognize anyone's footsteps on the wooden floor.

"- Let me help ya." I said, more announcing something than waiting for her answer.

Grabbing a knife, I took one of the leeks near of her hand.

"- Ya'll hurt yerself..." She mocked with a low voice, her tone lacking her usual energy.

"- I don' want ta her that from ya..." I retorted with a sign of the chin to her middle finger that was already bandaged. Probably a remainder of the peeling of the pile of carrots behind me.

We silently worked until, as she foresaw it, the peer I had in my hand viciously slipped and my knife scratched my other hand.

With a small noise of surprise, I took my hurt finger to my mouth.

"- Told ya..." Okan sighed, though her face was slightly amused as she grabbed the first aid kid she just used for herself.

"- It's ok, it's nothin'... " I wanted to stop her, not wanting such a stupid wound to be underlined to the others' sight by a white bandage.

"- It's not... It's not, Heiji."

I knew at her tone we weren't talking about that wounded finger anymore.

"- Okan, I'm sorry... I didn' want ta worry ya, I just wanted ta...

\- I know..." My mother sadly smiled, her eyes watering a bit as she tended my finger. "Just like yer father, ya're the kind ta throw yerself in a case an' not stoppin' until ya solved it...

\- An' that one is... The idea o' knowin' this guy is runnin' around is just...

\- I know. Ginshiro told me about that man. Heiji, he is dangerous, so promise me ya'll... I wouldn' stand it if anythin' happened ta ya too..."

I could see on her face she was facing a mix of emotion. I could see a thirst for justice, the very same that was on mine since last Thursday. But there was mostly worry. And I knew I was the cause.

"- I promise." I whispered as I took her in my arms and started to rub her back.

Kudô, Kazuha and my mother were some of the most important persons in my life right now and I'd be wounding them deeply if anything happened to me. I didn't know if I'd be able to tame that hot-blooded side of me but I'd try, with all my strength.

"- I promise I'll be careful but I need ta stop Saijô. As soon as possible. So justice can be done."

My voice was still low, I didn't want to speak too loud because I could feel at the lump stuck in my throat that my voice could break at any moment with the emotion, but my resolve was there. I wouldn't stop before sending that guy just where he belonged : a jail.

So my mission was to arrest him. And the side dish was to stay alive. And preferably safe and sound.

Easy, right ?

I looked at my mother when she let go, to see she was crying.

"- Ya ok ?" I gently asked, a bit embarrassed to see her like that, perhaps one of the first times of my life.

"- Excuse me, the leers..." She apologized as she rubbed the tears.

"- Yea, same fer me, I know..." I confirmed, hiding behind the same excuse than her to explain the water in my eyes. "Should' we call the girls ? I bet they'll do a better job than either o' us...

\- That would be rude !" She refused, not wanting her guests to take part to the preparation of the meal.

"- That or they eat somethin' ya an' I prepared... "

We looked at each other before suddenly burst into laughter. That was stupid. This joke was so stupid. But it was a joke and we needed it and grabbed voluntarily the occasion that was given to us to let a bit of our stress out.

"- Ok, that would be bad manners also ta poison our guests... Delivery food ?" Okan proposed, a smile on her face.

"- Deal ! "

o.O.o

The idea of "delivery food" according to my mother was to have half of the best sushi shop in Osaka delivered at home so it was with full stomachs we headed to our rooms after dinner - well, Occhan stayed downstairs to share a few glasses with Yamato, but most of us left. I had told our tale to the group, getting another slap on the head from Kazuha and a scolding look from my mother when I mentioned -quite quickly -the accident with my bike but the mood had lighten after that.

Looked like taking on me was a good way to relieve any gloomy atmosphere, great heh ?

I was now back in my room and, after installing a futon for Kudô, I took my computer on my knees and sat on it.

"- Oy, isn't that supposed to be my bed ?" The fake boy pointed out with a glare.

"- I knew ya looked like a child, I didn' think ya'd need the same sleepin' hours..." I taunted him with a smirk. "I want ta look at what Otaki sent ta us about the cases.

\- Sure you want to do that tonight ?"

I could feel some concern in my best friend's voice. Reviewing Oyaji's ... murder through the police files would be nasty, I knew it. But if there was any information as to who helped that bastard, I needed it. I nevertheless decided not to be that daring yet.

"- Let's start in chronological order..." I announced and that got my friend to sit near of me.

I knew he knew but he didn't make any comment and just bent on my computer screen.

"- Ok... First, video surveillance and pictures maybe ?

\- Why not..."

Twenty minutes later, we looked at each other with startle. Otaki-han hadn't been lying. This was organised crime, not a bunch of amateurs. Their material, their efficiency, their speed... Not a single second had been left to improvisation.

"- Sucks..." I bluntly concluded, knowing it would start to get harder if we were facing some Yakuzas or a hidden criminal society, something clearly too big for us to swallow.

"- It just means we'll need the police's help. Else, it's just the same. We won't let them escape, Hattori, big fish or not.

\- Yea, ya're right... It may take more time but we'll find them an' arrest them !

\- That's the spirit !" My best friend smiled at me.

"- So... What do ya think about that third policeman, the once who's still alive ?" I asked after I mirrored his smile, though with a pinch of sadness that wasn't in the original one.

"- He clearly knew something was going to happen. He was already bending to the floor before the shots began !

\- But they tried ta get rid o' him... ta get rid o' all the witnesses, eh ?

\- I bet he'll be more than willing to cooperate after that, we have to see him..." Kudô concluded as he brought his hand to his chin, his favourite move when he was thinking.

"- But... We need ta find Saijô first...

\- Leave Saijô aside... Kyoto's and Osaka's police are already hunting him...

\- Yea, so efficiently..." I ironically pointed out with a grimace.

"- But they _are_ looking for him. That policeman is the only link we have to the organisation that planned it all. An organisation who wanted Saijô out and I don't think it was just for him to have his revenge. They probably had some kind of deal... You against something...

\- Ya think I was just some kind o' leverage ?" I wondered, a bit disturbed by the idea.

"- Yea, that's it. I don't know how but they heard of him. And knew he wanted to kill you so they used it as a bait. The good news is that if we stop those guys, Saijô will end without back up. No way he'll be able to hide a long time without their support.

\- But bad news is that the policeman ya want ta interrogate is still unconscious...

\- His wounds are serious but not life-threatening according to the report, he should wake up soon.

\- Ok, ok, I'll ask Otaki-han to give us some update if the guy wakes up." I agreed before taking my phone out.

o.O.o

"- Not sleepin' ? "

The voice that came behind me from the house made me jump.

Kazuha's.

"- Nah, I couldn' "I admitted as I watched her sitting next to me on the small wooden terrace, her legs now dangling near of mine.

"- Same fer me..."

The pony-tailed girl squeezed next to me and a silence settled between us, as we both enjoyed the first signs of the arrival of the summer : a gentle breeze and the first cicadas of the season singing.

"- I'm sorry, Heiji..." She finally said as she put her head against my shoulder, uncomfortably close to me.

Well, not that uncomfortable but...

To hide my embarrassment, I decided to avoid the subject I knew she wanted to talk about.

"- About the slaps ? Was about time...

\- Nah, ahou... " My childhood friend denied before having a little smile when she looked up at me. "Ya deserved those...

\- I'm hurt...

\- I know..."

Back to the serious faces and subjects... With a sigh, I looked at her, to see she was looking at me. I knew what she wanted, I could see it in her eyes. She wanted me to speak. But I couldn't yet. Not when there was that gaping wound in my heart.

So I looked elsewhere.

"- Heiji, I... If ya want ta speak, I'm...

\- Listen Kazuha, I... I can' talk about it yet. It's too...

\- I know. I know, Heiji." She said with a sad smile.

And that reminded me. That she lost one of her parents too. That that pain I felt right now, she had to face it six years ago, when her mother had been killed by that hit-and-run driver. The guy had been arrested the following day, Oyaji had been hunting him through the whole city, but the harm had been done.

And, startled, I finally noticed that the girl with her head on my shoulder was in fact the very one who'd knew the best what I was going through.

"- I just wanted ta say that I'm here. When ya're ready."

I nodded before looking once again at the garden.

I don't know how long we stayed like this, closer than we ever had been, but that soothed my wounded heart for a while.

o.O.o

A ringing noise was the thing that woke me up the following morning and it took me a while to recognize my phone. I knew it was kind of late, according to the light bathing my bed and the fact Kudô seemed ta already be up and grabbing my phone confirmed it.

"- Otaki-han ?" I asked, having read the identity of the one calling me on my screen.

"- Hi, Hei-chan. Hope I'm not wakin' ya ?

\- It's forgotten if ya have any good news fer me.

\- Great then, because I think ya'll agree ta say it's good news. It's Ogi. The policeman who lived Saijô's evasion.

\- He's woken up ?

\- Yup !

\- Great news then. He was in Umekôji's Hospital, right ?

\- Yea but... Ya know I'm not supposed ta inform ya... I'm not even supposed ta know that since it's Kyoto's district, not Osaka's...

\- What yer point ? " I asked, wanting to cut short his rambling.

"- If ya do anythin', like tryin' ta go an' see him, do it discreetly. Because I don' think Kyoto will hesitate in arrestin' ya fer obstruction an' I won' be able ta help ya...

\- Heh, I'm not goin' ta please Ayanokoji an' let him arrest me, don' worry...

\- He's not the only one lackin' humour among Kyoto's police so just be careful, ok ?

\- Yep !" I concluded as I hung up before getting up and stretching with a wide yawn.

This had been my best night for a while, I had to thank Kazuha for that.

And now that I was all rested, it was time to go and hunt some information.


	7. Chapter 6 - Waiting in the shadows

**Hey !**

 **Back with another chapter and... some action ? A little bit only, but well, part of the investigation is about staying discreet, right ? What ? Heiji doesn't know how ? haha, can't disagree... xD**

 **o.O.o**

 **emmahoshi : Ah, yea, I took the idea from the episode where Heiji's mother is asking for Kogoro's help just to in fact see how good he's an a detective. I liked it so yea, there's a little deviation, it was funnier like this :p (else indeed, she'd be soooo perfect xD). That could be one of DC's mystery yea^^; We never heard about Kazuha's mum. But Kazuha doesn't seem to have any problem talking about the others' mothers. So I'd say either she died when she was pretty young or the parents divorced. I tend to assume the first since picturing divorced parents wouldn't be... you know, a good example. Even Eri and Kogoro would are separated aren't divorced and still obviously see each other... Oh, yea, he'll be willing to talk but the boys may have to push him a bit xD**

* * *

 **Chapter 6 : Waiting in the shadows**

* * *

"- So, how do you want to do this ?

\- I was just plannin' on walkin' in...

\- Great..."

The disappointed face of my friend told me this wasn't the answer he expected.

I had been telling him earlier that Ogi was up so we grabbed my spare bike - in the hope I wouldn' break that one too... - and headed back to Kyoto as soon as we could, after I left with a bunch of reassuring smiles to my relatives.

But I hadn't really planned anything, I just knew I had to be there... And there we were, on the other side of the street, in front of the hospital.

"- Ok... Since it was just us deducting things, I don't think the police noticed yet that Ogi is suspicious so there shouldn't be any heavy guarding at his door.

\- We'll still have ta pass in front o' the staff without bein' noticed...

\- Well, if someone stops us, for once, your Kansai-ben will be useful..." Kudô smirked as he looked up at me.

"- I'll be 'visitin' some relative' eh ?

\- More credible with the correct dialect, right ?

\- Yea... As ta Ogi, any idea on how ta make him speak ? I bet he won' just tell ta two kids he betrayed the police an' gave sensitive information ta a criminal group...

\- We'll find something..."

The boy's expression was a bit scary and not fitting at all such a small face... Note for myself : never forget that, despite his innocent features, my best friend is the kind not to give anything away and above all when we're talking about criminals.

I wasn't used to that kind of sneaking and hiding in my investigations : I always did things in broad daylight and this way was a bit disturbing me. But well, since at least one of us was confident, I followed him and we stepped into the hospital, trying to look as casual as possible. It was around midday so there weren't a lot of visitors. Of staff either. I had already been in that hospital, this was the exact one they brought me in when Saijô attacked me during the case that revealed he was totally mad...

So it wasn't exactly hard to know where I was going and it was the same for Kudô.

"- Think we should try ta ask a nurse where he could be ?" I proposed with a low voice as we headed to the elevator.

"- Nah, it's ok... He should be in the same area you were brought in last time, since it was dedicated to cases' victims...

\- Second floor then..." I concluded as I pushed the said floor's button.

We were entering the main hallway, discreetly looking the name plates on each side, when I noticed a man standing near a door, at the far end of it.

"- Not guarded, eh ?" I observed with a pinch of irony, keeping my voice low.

"- Not _heavily_ guarded I said..." The fake child retorted with a glare. "And that'd mean someone knows how to put two and two together in Kyoto's police, that's not such a bad news.

\- Unless ya want ta interrogate the guy he's guardin', then it _is_ bad news.

\- You're a bit pessimistic these days, Hattori... Just look !"

I couldn't even say anything, my friend was already heading straight to the policeman with a wide childish smile.

"- Oji-san, do you know where is the room 253 ?

\- Ah, since this one is the 251, it should be the one just over ther..."

But the man didn't finish his sentence : he had done the mistake to turn his back at my little friend and the consequences were quick : a soporific needle right to his neck.

I accelerated to grab the man in his fall, not wanting it to make too much noise.

"- Crap, warn me first, ya ahou !" I ranted, panting for that quick run and my wounded elbow hurting to have to support such an extra weight.

"- I knew you could do it !" He just confidently smiled before opening the door and holding it for me to bring the unconscious policeman in.

I put him as I could in a corner, still ranting, knowing we'd clearly have some problems if anyone found us... When I turned my head to the bed, it was to see the man I already watched on the pictures, Ogi. The policeman was sleeping right now. He was in his thirties, with wavy hair and pale skin, paleness that was even accented by his wounds, clearly important seeing the huge wrapping around his torso. Some tube was still stuck into his nose and an IV was linked to a machine, machine near which my best friend was.

"- Oy, do ya know what ya're doin' ?! " I panicked when I saw he was pushing some buttons here and there.

"- Mostly...

\- Mostly ?! Oy, dude...

\- It's ok, I'm just lowering the level of painkillers to wake him up, I'm not touching anything else, don't worry... "

Kudô seemed confident so I didn't insist, though not really fond of the idea, and came closer to the bed, on the other side.

Apparently, he knew what he was doing since the man started to stir and opened owlish eyes barely two minutes later.

"- Who are you ?!" Ogi spurted when he saw the face near of his bed, mine, wasn't one he knew.

"- Someone who knows ya've been doin' nasty things recently..." I retorted with a hard look, trying to sound threatening, which wasn't that hard when I was facing the man who let Saijô escape. "Like helpin' prisoners ta escape, by givin' confidential info ta a criminal gang...

\- The hell are you talking out, brat ? Ayanokoji then you... Why is everyone coming to me with crazy theories..."

I looked over the bed to my best friend with a bit of surprise. We had just learnt who was Mr "I know how to put two and two".

"-... I'm hurt and tired." Ogi was going on in his whimpering. "I'm a victim here ! I don't want to hear your baseless accusations... In fact I don't even care, just leave me alone!"

That was exactly what I didn't want to hear. And it kind of made me lost it.

"- Ya don' care ?!" I hissed as I grabbed his collar unceremoniously. "Really ? Do ya have any idea o' who I am ...?

\- A brat playing detective ?" The man retorted with a condescending glare, bringing his hand on his collar to remove mine but I didn't let him.

"- Exactly. Name's Hattori Heiji."

I noted with a certain satisfaction the policeman paled at my name and stopped to struggle a second from the shock. Good, that meant he very probably knew who Saijô was to me.

"- The man ya freed has been tryin' ta kill me since. An' didn' hesitate ta kill anyone on his way..." I gulped discreetly, wanting to still sound menacing but the subject I was going to mention was... still too fresh so I lowered my voice. "Because, I don' know or want ta know why, ya decided ta help those guys, my father died. So don' give me bullshit like 'I don' care'. Three men died already. An' ya know exactly what's really happenin' an' who did it... That sounds like life imprisonment ta me. Perhaps even death row..." I finished before letting him go.

Ogi was even whiter than before, almost of the same colour than his sheets.

"- And those men you're trying to protect have tried to kill you..." Kudô pointed out, making the man jump, I didn't think he had noticed him yet.

Settling back on his pillow and closing his eyes with a grimace after that sudden move when he had been shot in the chest - but I had to admit I wasn't in the mood to be showing some solicitude - , the man finally dared to speak.

"- They never mentioned piercing bullets... There shouldn't have been anyone dying... I never asked for any of this !

\- Who did then ?

\- I don't know... I received a phone call, one night. Someone proposing me a lot of money. I had so many gaming debts... And no one was supposed to be hurt so I accepted... What a waste, I didn't even get a buck yet..."

I had a disgusted grimace at that man... While he seemed honestly shocked there had been some victims, he still was more worried about his money and the end of his career. That disgusting self-centred bastard...

"- Who are they ?" Kudô insisted when we both saw the man was starting to just cry on his situation and wasn't helping at all.

"- I don't know... We were just talking through the phone, I don't even know what any of them looks like...

\- But that means ya have a phone number ta give us, right ?

\- Yea... "

I took a piece of paper out when he started to dictate it.

A phone number. Such a small hint, this was going to be hard...

"- Oy, Hattori !"

I turned my head to see my best friend had left Ogi's side to check on the policeman he knocked out earlier.

" - I think he's waking up, we should put him back in the hallway and leave..."

His advice was underlined by a grunt from the man on the floor, so I got up with urge.

I grabbed his arm while Kudô opened the door to check if there was anyone and, at his sign, I stepped out to put the man on the floor, along the wall.

"- Let's hope he'll think he had hypoglycaemia... " The boy prayed with a smirk at me.

I rolled my eyes but nevertheless smiled to him. The way my little friend was leading his investigation was scary indeed...

" - Let's go !"

o.O.o

A little while after, we were in Umekôji's park, a bit isolated, having left the main ways.

"- Ok, I'm callin'." I said, grabbing my phone to dial the number Ogi had given to us.

Before Kudô's hand stopped mine.

"- We need to think first about what we're going to say, Hattori.

\- Easy, I'll tell them I know everythin', that should be enough ta force them out !

\- Oy, don't you think you have your hands full enough with Saijô ? I'm not going to let you provoke a criminal organisation...

\- Then what ?" I retorted with a glare, bored to have to think about all those little details when we were tracking the ones who caused Oyaji's death.

"- Time to use my old good voice changer..."

A few minutes later, I was holding my phone between the two of us and Kudô, after setting the frequency he wanted to use, dialled the number Ogi gave us.

"- Yea ?" A kind of annoyed voice answered after a few rings.

"- It's me... Ogi."

I could almost hear the guy at the other side of the line paling with surprise.

"- What ? Disappointed you didn't manage to kill me ? Or that I woke up ?" Kudô retorted, taunting the man with a satisfied smile on his face, totally in his role. "I didn't little your little surprise either, guys... So, if you want me to stay silent, it'll be the double of what you already owe me or nothing. "

We heard a short commotion at the other side of the line, two persons were clearly arguing as to what to do.

"- Ok." They agreed after a little while. "Where do you want to meet ?

\- Haha, you're the funny ones, aren't you ? I'm not really wanting to be killed... I want you to put the money in a metallic case and you to leave it in Umekoji's park, just behind the Steam Locomotive Museum, in the corner of the park where it meets the tracks. Someone I trust will retrieve it. If anything happens to him, you know the consequences...

\- ... Just leave us a little while, time to prepare the money.

\- You have two hours."

And that was when Kudô hung up.

"- Sooo... We wait fer them ta put the case in the park an'... What, ya find a way ta stick one o' yer emitters on the guys ?

\- Exactly."

I sighed at that plan that once again sounded crazy. It was just scary how many things a small child could do without being noticed. Planting emitters was one of my best friend's trademarks, yet not a single person, apart perhaps for Gin once, ever noticed him. Ever.

Let's just hope it'd go as smoothly as usual...

My silent prayer was interrupted by an intense growling.

"- Hmm... Does it disturb ya if we eat in the meanwhile ?" I proposed with a grimace of embarrassment.

o.O.o

The plan went so easily it was almost shameful.

Kudô had been playing with his soccer ball and "accidentally" hit the guy who had been hiding the case and was coming back to the park's entrance. I bet the guy forgot him the second after, despite the fact he was now leaving with a little 'gift' stuck to his trouser.

Despite what "Ogi" had ordered, the man hid a bit further, waiting for the one who would retrieve the money.

Who of course never came. After a long wait - I was so glad we ate in the meanwhile -, seeing it was getting dark , the man gave up and, after retrieving the case, got into his car and left.

We took my bike once again, tailing him from afar, staying of course out of his sight : what would be the need to see him when we had the emitter telling us his exact position ?

And that bought us where we were right now. An old housing estate, made of something like ten small adjoining houses, looking deserted.

But a closer look - and the red point on my best friend's glasses-, were telling us it was much more than that.

"- I bet the houses are linked together..." I said with a low voice after we hid on the other side of the street to watch the place.

"- Yep, I saw the same guy in two different houses' second floor, no way he could have gotten out so fast..." Kudô confirmed, his hand on his glasses, using his night-vision zoom. "And seeing those guards... You wouldn't happen to have a camera on you ?

\- Nah... But my phone should be enough, I took one with a good camera so I could use it fer the cases...

\- Let's try..."

One half hour later, after only a few words exchanged, the fake child got up.

"- Ok, now, let's show all those to Kyoto's police. That should be enough to convince them to come here.

\- What ?! But we're so close ta...

\- The two of us won't be able to catch them all. And with all the weapons they probably have here... Nah, we need the Special Forces to come and empty this building for us. Just wait a bit longer, Hattori, we'll get the ones who killed your father, we're barely delaying their arrest for a few hours..."


	8. Chapter 7 - Police Station

**Heya !**

 **Hmm I think that's where the trouble begins... ; )**

 **And, sorry for the cliff ! *runs away***

 **o.O.o**

 **emmahoshi : Yea, Shin hs always been a kind of buffer to Heiji's lack of caution : ) But he also has his bold side, thanks to the fact he's so little and no one really notices him... That's fun : ) Oh, well, once again some questions that will find their answers in the next chapters so I won't spoil :p**

* * *

 **Chapter 7 : Police station**

* * *

I wasn't really fond of the idea but nevertheless obeyed, knowing my best friend had very probably more discernment than I did right now.

My mood wasn't really improving since we had to travel under a pouring rain and that had never been that pleasant on a bike. But what finished to piss me off was that other request from Kudô, in front of the police station.

"- Ayanokoji ?! The hell ! No way I'm goin' ta ask fer that guy at the desk !

\- Hattori... He's the one in charge of that case. He even guessed Ogi was suspicious !

\- Listen, I just can', that guy is so much gettin' on my nerves, Kud..."

A hard kick behind the knee welcomed my slip. Someone had just been passing at that moment and my best friend looked at him with his usual paranoia, seeing men in black everywhere.

He finally focused back on me and starting whispering.

"- Stop whimpering and let's wrap that case !

\- Don' complain if he doesn' even want ta talk ta us then..." I gave up with a long sigh before stepping towards the door.

o.O.o

That whole scene turned out to be useless since, seeing the late hour, the inspector was apparently already back home.

"- But we can call his manager, the Superintendant Tanioka, he's still here, he's been working late those days..."

I looked at Kudô and saw he didn't mind. They had heard that name already, the man having taken a part into Saijô's surveillance when the car had been attacked, so he was surely aware of the situation.

"- If ya could, yes please."

A few whisperings on the phone later, the female policeman at the desk smiled at me.

"- He's working on something important right now but will be able to see you in one half hour, perhaps 45 minutes, would it be ok ?

\- Yea, no problem.

\- Please have a seat in the visitors' lounge then. You'll find some vending machines there, if you're hungry.

\- Thanks !"

Kudô and I headed to the seats the girl shown us in silence.

One half hour. This wasn't really long but... We left those guys' HQ already thirty minutes ago, add to this another half hour...

"- They won't fly away so fast, Hattori..."

I turned my head at Kudô. How did the guy always know what I was thinking ? Was I so obvious ? Was every of my thoughts written on my face ?

"- But as long as they're outside, still at their malevolent business, I can' calm down, sorry...

\- Well, if you need to do something, at least call your mother. It's past 10 p.m."

As always the voice of reason, that was a bit annoying... But yea, after all those nice words last night about being careful and all, I had to call them. And with tomorrow supposed to be a school day... Crap, I had to be persuasive. And seeing she tried to call me twice when I switched on my phone kind of depressed me.

"- Okan ?

\- Heiji ? Where are ya ? We tried ta call ya but..."

Heh, well done boy, you managed to put concern in your mother's voice barely one day after swearing to her you'd pay more attention, congrats !

"- I'm sorry, I switched off my phone, I had ta. I'm safe an' sound an' Conan-kun's with me but we're still in Kyoto, in the police station.

\- Uh ok... I guess no school fer ya tomorrow, eh ?

\- Yea, I'm sorry but I... Well, ya know.

\- Don' worry about that, I'll call them."

I smiled at her answer. My mother was many things and comprehensive was a part of the lot. Well, no wonder, after being married to Oyaji that long... A sad smile appeared on my face at that idea.

"- Since I'm busy, I don' think I'll be able ta bring Conan-kun back ta Osaka right now, could ya apologize ta Neechan fer me ? An' if ya could... I kind o' need him right now, he's... ya know, kind o' helpin' be ta calm down. I know it's pretty egoist but could ya check with her if he could stay one or two days with me ? I'll tell him ta call her.

\- Hmm I'll try ta persuade her but no more than one day, ok ? A little boy should be at school, I don' want ya ta endanger his education by keepin' him away from school...

\- Ok ! I'm not sure when we'll be back ta Osaka tonight but as soon as I know, I'll call ya fer sure !

\- Ya've better ta !"

"- So you... need me ?" Kudô repeated with a smirk, forcing a blush of embarrassment on my face.

"- Don' force me ta repeat that, it was embarrassin' enough... An' ya perfectly know I need ya right now. I need yer brain. An' yer stares when I'm about ta do somethin' stupid...

\- Glad to help..." He confirmed, his smile still on his face. "And also thanks for the excuse, I won't say I'm disappointed not to go to school for at least a day or two.

\- Anytime... Just don' forget that phone call.

\- Got it."

After Kudô called Neechan and after we grabbed some "dinner" at the vending machines - well, let's be honest, it was more about wolfing down some candies than dinner -, we had been waiting for a while before the girl finally came to fetch us.

"- The Superintendant Tanioka is ready to welcome you. You'll find his office at the seventh floor, the first door on the right after the elevator.

\- Thanks !" I answered as my best friend and I got up.

My eyes fell on the clock. Five to eleven. Superintendents had it hard...

o.O.o

"- Ah, come in ! Sorry fer makin' ya wait, I had that urgent file ta finish..."

The man who welcomed us was a thin built one - though perhaps not that thin around the middle - in his fifties, with a small beard and gray hair. His voice was strong but he seemed a bit uneasy as he wiped the sweat on his forehead with his handkerchief.

Or perhaps he was just tired, it was quite late after all.

"- Ah, ya came with a friend? " The Superintendent noticed with a quick frown when he saw Kudô's small silhouette.

"- Ah, yea, sorry, I took him with me ta visit Kyoto an' he got dragged with me on that case... Hadn' much choice.

\- So what was that important thin' ya wanted ta talk about ? Ya mentioned Saijô at the desk ?

\- Ah, yea… I think Ayanokoji…-keibu may have mentioned there could be an informer along the police who gave information about the itinerary and the hours of Saijô's transfer ? An' that this informer could be Ogi-keiji ?

\- … I don' know where ya heard this, Hattori-kun…" The policeman retorted as he put his elbows on his desk and crossed his hands just below his eyes' level, looking at me with a piercing look.

I decided not to beat around the bush so I looked in his eyes before speaking again.

"- Maa, come on, we both know ya wouldn' put a guard at his door if there wasn' any suspicion about him…

\- Let's imagine this could be a possibility… What's yer point ?

\- Thanks ta some intel he gave us, we found them. We found the group who helped Saijô ta escape."

If I wanted to surprise the guy, this had been a good way since he was looking at me with startle. Looking a bit destabilized, he gulped before getting a map out and gave me a sign of the head, inviting me to show him the place.

"- There." I announced as I put my finger on his map. "This looks like an abandoned housin' estate but don' get fooled by it. The houses are linked ta each other an' guarded by men with heavy weapons. This place is dangerous. I have some picture o' the place an' some faces on my phone.

\- Could ya… ?

\- O' course."

I looked at the man uploading the pictures on his computer and copying them on an USB key.

"- Hey, just don'…" But it was too late, before I could even stop him, I saw he erased what was on my phone.

"- Ah, sorry, that's a reflex, I always do that on my phone…

\- Nevermind…" I sighed, knowing Kudô had sent those to his phone beforehand so we still had them somewhere to resume our parallel investigation.

I looked at the man grabbing the USB key and getting up to face me.

"- I won' ask ya how ya did that or how ya managed ta speak ta Ogi when he's under surveillance… I've heard about ya, Hattori Heiji, an' I know ye're puttin' yer young nose in cases ya shouldn' meddle with. But thank ya, this information may be pretty useful ta us."

I shook the hand that was held to me, refraining from grimacing when I felt it was sweaty.

"- Could ya wait a second ? I'm goin' ta call the Identification Department ta see if there's anyone ta help us with this pictures. Ya're welcome ta come o' course.

\- Thank, I'll take up the offer."

The man took his phone out and stepped a bit aside, so I seized the opportunity to bend at my best friend.

"- He didn't really seem happy to see me…" Kudô whispered with a smirk.

"- An' he looks pretty concerned about somethin'… His hand was so sweaty, that guy is clearly under pressure…

\- Might be related to this picture. He was staring at it…"

I looked up to see at what my best friend was pointing at. A picture of the Superintendent and a boy around my age was on a shelf so I took it to look closer at it.

"- His son probably… Think… ?"

But I had to stop in mid-sentence when the policeman came back.

"- It's ok, there's someone.

\- Great." I answered, a bit embarrassed, before having an idea. "Is that yer son ?

\- Yea. " The man had a tender smile when he looked at the picture. "Had ta raise him alone, I'm glad he's a good boy.

\- Isn' he too lonely ? Ya're workin' quite late apparently… If I had one advice ta give ya, it would be ta do yer best ta spend some time with him…"

That last comment was perhaps more about me than him, I would have liked to spend more time with Oyaji before… Well, too late now to have regrets, eh ?

I was so focused on my own thoughts that I almost missed his reaction. The guy paled before stuttering a "sorry about yer loss" before checking his wrist watch to hide his unease.

"- We should get goin', it's quite late already."

I looked at the man grabbing his vest and a huge envelope.

"- I'll be followin' yer advice an' go home." He smiled at me as we followed him outside and I saw him close the door. "Boya, could ya bring this envelope ta the desk? That'd be a great help. The girl will tell ya where ta find us, ask her fer the Identification Department."

Kudô looked up at me with an interrogative look but I just shrugged. Even if the guy was hiding something, we were still in the middle of a police station, no way he'd try anything here.

"- Haaaii ! " He docilely answered as he grabbed the paper.

"- Thanks. We'll be takin' another elevator, it'll be shorter fer us ta reach the ID department through that other one so go ahead.

\- Hai!"

I exchanged a nod with my best friend and looked at him going into the elevator, hoping this wasn't a too bad idea to accept to be separated.

"- Hey, still energetic despite the late hour, that boy..." Tanioka smiled when he saw I was looking at him. "Let's go then !"

I followed him towards another elevator, a bit more isolated, and watched him pushing the button to the first basement.

"- Ah, by the way, did ya already give those pictures ta Osaka ? Or should I send them ta them ?

\- Nah, we didn', we preferred ta give them ta ya first, since this was yer jurisdiction...

\- They'll have it first hour tomorrow mornin' then, since this association seems ta work in both cities, we can' let them in the dark !"

I was wondering if he really planned to. His "accidental" - yea, my ass - erasing of my phone's memory was suspicious. His strange behaviour towards Kudô, me, this picture of his son were suspicious also... But why ? What was his role in this play ? If it was only to have Saijô's itinerary, not need for a Superintendent, clearly... Was is something bigger ? Big enough for someone to probably use his son as a leverage ...?

I froze as the doors opened on a barely lightened empty hallway, now totally focused on what was around me.

"- Quite isolated, that department...

\- Well, ya know, since they work on the most sensitive information we have, they need ta be surrounded by concrete, no windows allowed, that would be too much o' a risk..."

I nodded at his answer but still let him go first, not wanting to turn my back even a second to that man. We walked towards the far left corner and, when I saw this corridor was ending with an emergency exit, I tensed. Was he going to try anything and escape through it ?

I tried to tame my anxiety, I was starting to be paranoid, and while being hot-headed was my thing, being paranoid was Kudô's and I wanted things to stay like this...

My paranoia calmed down when we stopped in front of the last door on the right and I saw a little label "Identification Department" on it. Here we were, as promised.

Still a bit sweating, the Superintendent turned the knob and entered first.

When I wanted to follow, my mind went back to its paranoia in the second, as I noticed that the place was filled with computers. ONLY with computers. There wasn't anyone here.

"- What's that about ?

\- I'm sorry, Hattori-kun..."

I was a bit surprised to see a true pinch of regret on his face and I knew something was going to happen so I stepped back slowly.

To end against something. Someone to be more precise.

I jumped to face my opponent but only to see he was expecting it and threw his fist deep into my stomach.

Coughing, I fell on my knees, trying to catch my breath without any success, unable to look up to try to defend myself or to see who this sudden aggressor was.

The last thing I remembered was a hard blow at the back of my neck and then, it was only the silent and dark oblivion of the unconsciousness.


	9. Chapter 8 - Dance studio

**Hey there !**

 **Hope you're doing well, despite that little cliff I let you in... Did I mention i don't plan to end with the cliffs tonight ? No ? haha...**

 **Well, no way I'd finish this so quickly, right ? ^^**

 **o.O.o**

 **emmahoshi : Haha, yup, I liked that one ; ) I had been too easy with you, it was time to have you all shake on your seats again xD Ah well, we'll discover it sooner or later, if Tanioka is a bad guy, a victim or anything else... ^^ I think Shin is probably pretty happy with heiji finding him excuses not to go to school xD And well, our hot-blooded detective needs him, really, really a lot so... ^^; Ah yea, answer as to who was with Tanioka today ! : D**

 **aerinechan : Hey, félicitations ^^ J'espère que tu l'apprécieras jusqu'à la fin, cette fic, alors ^^ Et non, je suis toujours aussi fan des cliffs... ca donne du relief : )**

 **estelle : Et bien la réponse est... Non ! Mais t'inquiète, il ne manque pas de ressources, notre petit détective ; )**

* * *

 **Chapter 8 : Dance studio**

* * *

 _Third person PoV_

Conan had accomplished his mission quite fast, eager to meet Hattori and Tanioka, feeling that policeman was pretty suspicious and that meant he could be dangerous.

He headed to the first basement, just like the female officer at the entrance told him, now more running than walking, feeling something was not right, it was far too calm...

And when the small detective finally found the door of the Identification Department and tried it to see no one was there, he knew his hunch was right. No way they could have been finished so fast, he spent barely two minutes at the desk !

Taking his phone out, he feverishly dialled his best friend's number.

"- Come on, answer me, Hattori..."

But the Osakan, usually so quick to pick his phone, didn't answer.

The fake boy pocketed back his phone, with a shaking hand, his thoughts running to know where to start his search, trying not to panic. A lot of things could have happened, he couldn't just act as if the worse did. No, he had to focus. If he didn't meet anyone on his way, it meant they left using another way. Now, the question was through which door ?

He found his answer when his eyes finally noticed the green light of an emergency exit. One so close to the ID Department's door it seemed too good to be true.

"- Crap..." He swore as he bent to the floor, to see it was still wet.

Someone had used this door. Someone who was coming from outside. And that meant Hattori probably had to face two opponents, the Superintendent and someone else... The theory of an attack was getting more and more probable.

Conan didn't think twice about it and slammed the door in front of him, to see a staircase behind it. According to the wet steps going up and the noise, the part on his left was leading outside. That could have been a possibility but a door closing on his right helped him chose his destination : the parking lot was just on the second basement and that would be the best place to... do whatever they wanted to do discreetly.

Rushing through the stairs, the bespectacled boy could only helplessly look at the car that was passing him at high speed, only noticing the driver was wearing a dark hood. Hearing another engine starting right on his left, Tanioka's apparently, he recognized the man's silhouette behind the window, he didn't hesitate and quickly opened the trunk to sneak into it and quickly closed it over him as the car left. The detective just had to hope he wasn't mistaken and that it would lead him to his best friend.

o.O.o

The fact that the car stopped after barely fifteen minutes startled a bit the azure-eyed boy. Ok, it was late but that would mean whatever hideout the policeman was heading to, it wasn't really isolated and in the middle of the city.

Hearing Tanioka leaving the car, Conan counted until ten after the noise of his shoes on the gravel of the alley stopped before carefully open the lid of the trunk.

The car was parked on a gravel alley, as he recognized it by the noise, in front of a huge traditional house. Not a noise around. Residential area. Only one car.

All those facts meant he probably wasn't in the right place. But he couldn't just give up yet, the superintendent knew something, he had to find out what.

Still being cautious, in case his reasoning proved to be incorrect, the child sneaked into the house and headed towards the only noises he could hear, the sound of some glass in what looked like a kitchen. Indeed, coming closer, he saw Tanioka was helping himself with a glass of brandy with a shaking hand.

"- Where's your son ? I thought you said you were going to meet him ?" Conan finally asked with a strong voice.

The man jumped, bringing his hand to his chest with the surprise.

"- Conan-kun ?! What are ya doin' here?

\- Where's your son ?" The boy insisted, knowing the answer to that question was one of the keys of what was happening tonight. "I saw only one pair of shoes in the entrance, only yours. He's not here, right ?

\- He's... By his aunt, in... Hiroshima." The policeman stuttered, his discomfort clearly visible as he gulped.

"- You don't really seem sure of it...

\- But I am ! Come on boya, go back home, it's late, yer family will worry.

\- I'd like to but Heiji-niichan disappeared..." The detective complained with a childish voice, before getting serious once again and locking his piercing eyes in the man's. "You wouldn't know where he is ?

\- Last time I saw him he was at the station... We went ta the ID department, there wasn' anyone so we just left. He's probably waitin' fer ya back there...

\- Could you please stop with the lies ?"

Tanioka almost chuckled on the gulp of brandy he just took to bring more strength to his voice.

"- W... What ?! I won' let ya insult me under my roof, boya !

\- And I won't let your lot hurt my best friend ! Where is he ?!"

The sudden burst of the child seemed to destabilize the man, who was already not exactly at ease.

"- I...

\- You knew this was going to happen ! As a cop, as a Superintendent, as a father, how the heck have you been able to feed those guys with a teenager in the feeble hope they'd give you your son back ?!

\- ... How do ya..."

Tanioka's face was now filled with startle, but it didn't really calm down the bespectacled boy.

"- This was so obvious... He's not here despite the late hour and the fact we're in the middle of a school week, you stutter when someone mentions him, your eyes are shiny when you look at his picture... Even a boy like me could deduce that ! That's pure blackmail, Superintendent General Tanioka, I thought you learned how to deal with it in the Police..."

Conan clenched his fists when he saw the man's facade crumbling in front of him, taking his head in his hands. The man was starting to realize what he did, he couldn't just lash his anger out at him, it was time to calm down a bit to try to have the intel he wanted.

"- I know you're not a bad person... You wanted to avoid me to be involved in all this, right ? That's why you asked me to deliver that envelope at the desk...

\- I didn' expect Hattori-kun ta come with someone... An' ya're so young... Those guys wouldn' even have hesitated if ya were in their way, despite yer age...

\- Superintendent General Tanioka... Where's my friend ? Who took him ?

\- Sajiô..."

The small detective paled at the name. The only thing Saijô wanted was... This was indeed starting to be urgent to find Hattori.

"-... I had ta call him if Hattori-kun came at the Police Station. Because he escaped the first, they asked me ta have a more active role this time... What have I done..."

It was so, so late for the man to have regrets... But the boy knew he had to forget his feelings and try to get as much information out of Tanioka as possible.

"- Do you know where he could be ? In their HQ ?

\- Nah, he doesn' even know where it is...

\- Where else ?"

The policeman was obviously hesitating. Helping to save the teenager, if he was still alive, would clearly end his career, he was a too embarrassing witness. And that could threaten his son's life. But all those 'would' and 'could' wouldn't apply to the other teen's fate. He was leaving him to die, no doubt about that...

Feeling his hesitation, Conan decided to try to strike a nerve.

"- Superintendent General Tanioka, Hattori is barely the same age than your son... How can you be so desperate to save your own son and ignoring what happens to someone else's ...?"

The officer shook his head, biting his lower lip, before going to the nearby room. The man was opening a map on his desk when the small detective came in.

"- There's a derelict gymnasium in this area..." He said as he pointed a place in the south of Kyoto. "I know that's where they brought Saijô when they helped him ta escape. He'll probably be there. I don' really think he has anywhere else ta hide an' he knows this place is under those men's control... That's all I have, sorry.

\- Good enough to me, thank you."

The man let himself fall in his chair, passing a shaking hand in front of his eyes. Even for someone who wasn't a detective, there was no mystery as to why he looked so depressed.

"- I won't tell anyone. " Conan promised him with a serious face."Yet. So won't you. But I'm counting on you when you'll have your son back."

Despite the role the guy had in Hattori's kidnapping, he was still a victim. So was his son. The enemy was the same for all of them, no use in going witch hunting right now, it wouldn't help.

Having what he needed, the boy turned his heels and headed towards the door.

"- Wait ! Ya're not plannin' ta go there alone ?!"

In fact, he was, but the azure-eyed boy just kept a straight face as he turned to him.

Guessing this silent answer meant his fears were right, the man rumbled in a drawer before getting up and giving a piece of paper to the small detective.

"- He doesn' know anythin' about all that... But he knows Saijô like the back o' his hand, he'll be able ta neutralize him. Just explain him what's goin' on, he'll come."

The boy's eyes fell on the card and he had a small smile at the name on it.

With a last nod to the officer, he left.

o.O.o

 _Heiji PoV_

I didn't really like to wake up after being knocked out. Ok, you could tell me, who in the hell would like that ? Yea, I got your point. But that specific way to wake up was really a pain in the ass. Tongue like paper, eyes sensitive to light, headache, disorientation, were among the most common -and unpleasant - symptoms.

Which reminded me... That I had better to open my eyes fast since I was very probably in the middle of a or several bad guys' hideout and that I should be ready to defend myself.

But my eyelids weren't really cooperative so it took me a little while to be able to look at my surroundings, using my arms to sit - without being hindered by any kind of cord, clearly good news.

I was in a huge room, quite dark. The only light was coming from the holes in the roof, letting the lights of the town in, mirrored by the low clouds. That faint light was just like glowing on the walls and it took me a little while to identify the mirrors on them. I was in fact in a kind of dance studio. A deserted one.

My heart raced when I saw the door at the far corner open and I quickly got up, using the wall to support my wobbling legs, still feeling the aftermath of my blackout.

"- Ah, ya're awake ?"

I didn't even need to see that damn face and that wicked smile in the faint light, I knew who was coming at me. Saijô.

"- The hell do ya want ?" I growled, wondering why I was alive when the guy wanted to kill me and sure I wouldn't like the answer.

"- Oh, don' worry, I haven' changed my mind, I'm still out ta kill ya... But I also want my revenge. A fair one."

I stepped aside when he sent something to me, a something that touched the floor in a metallic noise. Removing the cloth that was around it with my feet, I recognized the shape of a katana.

"- I propose ta ya a round 2."

Unlike what I thought, I was starting to like that answer and grinned to retrieve the weapon at my feet. That damn guy had killed Oyaji : kicking his ass with a katana was one of the revenges I thought about myself. I beat him once, it was just about scoring a second time.

I grabbed the weapon's handle with a cold satisfaction and removed its scabbard.

"- I'm yer man.

\- I knew ya'd say that."

I didn't know what had been the signal but we threw ourselves at each other at the same time. The sound of our blades was echoing in the room, flashing when we hit metal against metal in some kind of crazy dance of life and death. After a few blows, I felt this wasn't going to be that easy. My ears were still a bit ringing and those sudden moves weren't helping. And what was worse was my twisted elbow. The left hand wasn't essential for kendo but it really helped. Above all when your opponent hit like a truck.

And that damn guy had noticed it. And now all his blows were on my left side...

Yea, "fair" he said...

A few more minutes and Taiga was now smirking.

"- Are ya tired already ? Would have expected more o' ya... How will ya avenge yer father if ya're so weak ?

\- Shut up...

\- Ya should have seen yer face when ya noticed the arrow in his chest, so pitiful. An' ya didn' even come after me. Coward."

The guy was provoking me, I knew it but it was just... Flashes of my father's death were passing in front of my eyes, and I could so much imagine him laughing in a corner...

With a yell of rage, I ran at him, blade first. That charge wasn't really efficient, my moves being too wide, and the man avoided it quite easily.

I suddenly felt a twitch on my side and, bringing my hand to it, saw it was bloody. It was nothing deep but how come ? I knew I avoided his blade!

Having a terrible doubt, I turned to him to see... What I expected to see. The same kind of kodachi he used last time in his left hand.

"- Bastard..." I hissed, knowing what it probably meant : I had been poisoned.

"- Maa..." Saijô smiled as he patted his chest pocket. "The antidote is here. I think we'll have enough time ta finish our fight before ya feel it too much so ya know what ya need ta do, boya..."

Yea, I knew... I had to win and take that damn antidote before it was too late...

With a renewed energy, I rushed at him, cautious to avoid his kodachi, not in the fear of the poison anymore, it was too late for that, but because it was almost as dangerous as his katana, with its sharp blade.

"- Haha, I prefer that, I was goin' ta get bored, else..." Taiga smirked as he parried my blows.

I faked a huge upper blow, knowing he'd use his arm's protection and took advantage of them to let my blade slid on them and cut his face.

I saw with a certain satisfaction his smirk had disappeared and it was with a dark stare at me he rubbed the blood of his cheek.

"- Ya're goin' ta pay fer that..."

This time, it was Saijô who was leading a fierce attack on me, slamming again and again his katana over my head. My left elbow was hurting and something else, the poison probably, was starting to give me nauseas. I knew I had to end that fight fast or it would be too late.

Knowing he'd seize the opportunity, I voluntarily left my left side slightly open, ready for the attack to come. And indeed, just like last time, he rushed at me, a smile of victory on the face and... His stomach pretty much open. Turning my blade at the last moment and stepping aside, I welcomed his strike with a huge blow in the stomach, using his own force against him.

Saijô rolled on the floor, letting his weapons go, his chest going quickly up and down when I pointed my blade at his neck to immobilize him.

"- Antidote..." I asked in a whisper, now starting to fully feel the effects of his poison.

The man slowly approached his hand of his chest pocket, to show me a vial. An empty one.

"- Haha, I lied..." The man chuckled, looking with amusement at my expression. "So..." He asked as he started to get up, pushing my blade towards his throat until a drop of blood rolled along his neck. "Are ya goin' ta have the balls ta kill me or are ya goin' ta die as a coward ?

\- Shut up..."

My voice and my legs were trembling. Because of that guy, I had lost Oyaji. I hated him, hated from the bottom of my heart. If I could, I'd just... Nothing was holding my hand...

I raised my weapon and lowered it with all my strength towards the man's head. To stuck it on the floor just at his side. Before quickly kick his face with my foot and hearing a satisfying cracking sound when it hit.

Nothing was holding my hand, yea. But I wouldn't betray the last thing my father told me.

 _"I'm proud o' ya"._

No way I was going to do something he wouldn't be proud of. Killing someone, turning myself as a murderer, would be against all I was. And all he was.

I looked at the unconscious guy at my feet, but that was when my vision swam, reminding me that...

I feverishly opened his vest, hoping what he said about the antidote not being there was just a bad joke but the only things I could find were some cash and car keys... Useless, as promised.

Once again my look lost its focus, informing me I probably wouldn't be conscious for much longer so I got up, my eyes now on the door.

Yea, last thing I had to do was to look for some help. To at least arrest Saijô and put him back behind bars, where he belonged. And if, by whatever miracle, that person could help me too, I'd be pretty grateful...

Sweating, using the wall as a support for my shaking legs, I headed as I could towards the door, to see it suddenly open.

"- Ya ...!"

Was the last thing I managed to say before a spasm stronger than the other knocked my wind out. Bringing my hand to my chest, I fell forwards, my legs unable to hold me anymore, passing out before even touching the floor.


	10. Chapter 9 - Unwanted rescuer

**Heya !**

 **Time to see how our fight Heiji vs Saijô ended... Who won in the end ? Heiji ? Neither ? :p**

 **o.O.o**

 **emmahoshi : Yea, I tried not to use it but 3rd person PoV is sometimes really needed. I could have it all told to Heiji and use his PoV afterwards but I feel it would be too "heavy", those bunch of explanations, just like a long monolog... Ah, well, sorry about global warming (xD), but they weren't really friend, right ? Tanioka is being blackmailed here. he did his work, so he goes back home, while Saijô leaves for whatever evil deed he has in mind :p I do also lock my car when I get in but that's not most of people here. And cars with an auto-lock system often lock after the car starts running so it would have been ope for Conan : ) Uh, of course Saijô is mad... he was before, he's still now :p As to the guessing game, you won this time ; ) Let's see how Heiji reacts to it xD As to your other questions... Answer in this chapter and the ending note ; )**

* * *

 **Chapter 9 : Unwanted rescuer**

* * *

 _Third person PoV_

Barely leaving Tanioka's doorstep, Conan dialled the number the Superintendent gave to him.

He hesitated a second to take his voice changer but finally decided to play the "I'm a kid and I'm afraid " card.

"- Ayanokoji speaking.

\- Ayanokiji-keibu ? This is Edogawa Conan-kun, I need your help ! ..."

It took the boy a little while to convince him, even more to have the officer pick him up where he was - he had walked away during that phone call not to imply Tanioka yet - and they had finally been heading towards the place the Superintendent pointed out to him.

They were now both into the deserted gymnasium, the small detective pretty tense, the officer still wondering if all of this was just a gigantic prank.

But those metallic noises they started to hear when they reached the second floor proved the place wasn't as much abandoned as one wanted them to believe. There was someone, for sure, even if the noises stopped almost as soon as they heard them.

The policeman and the azure-eyed child looked at each other a second, before rushing in the direction they last heard that strange sound.

Ayanokoji tried all the doors, Conan on his heels, to finally reach what was, without a doubt, the one they were looking for.

That, they knew for sure when a certain dark-skinned Osakan fell into the policeman's arms after a "Ya !" filled with what was at least displeasure to see him.

"- Hattori !" The boy yelled, his eyes widening when he saw his friend was passing out, sweating and panting heavily.

But the teen didn't even hear him.

o.O.o

 _Heiji PoV_

Not again.

Not again waking up after passing out. And if it wasn't enough, nausea and a strange stiffness around my chest were adding up to the usual symptoms... Great.

Only improvement was that I felt someone had put something soft under my head. A cloth maybe ?

But... Since I was starting to wake up, did it mean...

I suddenly opened my eyes in the hope I wouldn't wake up in the Other World.

But unless Kudô had also screwed up pretty badly, I was back to Kyoto.

Alive.

"- Awake ?" My friend asked as he bent on me when he saw my eyes open.

"- Yea..."

I wanted to push on my elbow - the good one - to sit but a large hand against my chest prevented me to do it.

"- Don't move yet..."

Turning my head to that new voice, I couldn't stop myself from sighing. Yea, that hadn't been my imagination, this guy was here also. The man didn't notice - or perhaps totally ignored - my lack of enthusiasm at his face and spoke again.

"- ... We don't know at what kind of dosage you've been exposed to, I gave you some of his antidote but I'd prefer to wait for medical assistance.

\- Antidote ? " I repeated, before coughing, feeling my throat was sore and didn't really want to obey me. "I thought he said ... He didn' have any ?

\- He lied then. " The policeman concisely observed, before Kudô decided to add some information to his too concise answer.

"- I saw a kodachi like the one he used last time near his hand... So when I saw you weren't badly hurt but you seemed to have trouble breathing, I guessed he used the same trick than last time...

\- We couldn't find anything to help here but that man was too cocky to risk dying if he mishandled his own blade... I was convinced we could find the antidote somewhere.

\- And Ayanokoji-keibu found some when we searched his car, he had parked it on the first floor..."

I looked at my best friend with startle. The fact I was alive was probably just pure luck. Pure luck and... Crap, I was going to own my life to that damn cop... It was a pain to admit it but... No more choice than to acknowledge the man could be handy... And not that much of a pain in the ass...

"- Thanks." I finally said, looking straight at Ayanokoji.

"- Don't mention it." He answered, shortly also, with a little nod.

"- How did ya found me ?

\- Ask your little friend..." The officer pointed out as he gave a side look at the boy near him, a wide grin on his face.

My friend struck again, I should have known it before even asking the question. As I said earlier, having a detective as a pal is... useful. Really.

"- Thanks." I whispered as I closed my eyes again, too tired to keep them open.

We would talk about that later, not in front of Ayanokoji, clearly.

o.O.o

I probably - well, surely - passed out again since, when I opened my eyes, I had left that dance studio and was in a less fancy place. Hospital, without a doubt.

A gentle daylight was passing through the windows, landing on a corner on the room, where my best friend was sleeping on a chair, a blanket around him. He did look like a little boy like this, I'd have to point it out to him, I knew he'd love it. Wouldn't he ?

I quickly checked myself, to just see a perfusion in my arm and feeling some bandage around my waist and my left elbow. Nothing new under the sun then. And nothing to stop me from sitting, damn, I was so bored already to lie down.

The grunt that move got out of me was feeble but enough to wake up Kudô, who looked at me with a scolding look.

"- Sorry..." I apologized with a small smile. "Didn' want ta wake ya up.

\- That look on my face isn't because you woke me up, it's because you're trying to move.

\- Hey, come on, I'm not made o' sugar..."

The small detective didn't even argue as he got on his feet and sat near of my bed.

"- But what happened to you isn't insignificant either. Black widow's venom... Where the hell did he find that..." My friend ranted with a low voice before looking back at me. "Never mind... Just rest for now.

\- Only if ya tell me how ya found me."

I knew bargaining was the best way to deal with Kudô when he tried to babysit me. Ok, he was older by a few months and was perhaps a tiny bit more thoughtful than I was, but that was annoying. I wasn't a kid. But he was... at least physically.

"- Deal."

I settled back in my pillows like an obedient child and waited for him to tell me his story.

o.O.o

"- So, fer the moment, only ya an' me know the truth about the Superintendent General Tanioka ?

\- Yup. I managed to avoid telling it to Ayanokoji-keibu, I don't know how long it'll last though..."

"- Telling me what ?"

I rolled my eyes when I recognized the inspector's voice. The man didn't even knock and barged in, before closing the door behind him.

"- That's funny how you always end in the hospital on the cases I see you working on..." He observed since he didn't get any answer to his question, looking around him with a frown. "Do you have some kind of subscription in Osaka's ER ? They must see you quite often...

\- Haha..." I retorted with a glare from my pillow.

"- So, now that you two are awake, could I have some answers ? Especially from you, boya..."

I looked at Kudô, knowing he wanted to hide for the moment the Superintendent's role in that case but we nevertheless had to do something...

"- I think ya also thought about the theory o' a mole among the police - let's say Ogi-keiji - helpin' Saijô ta escape ?"

The man nodded, not really looking surprised at my deduction, so I spoke again.

"- Well, we went ta see Ogi-keiji an' thanks ta him, found the hideout o' the group who lead that operation. We got the exact place an' we got pictures o' it.

\- You should have immediately given this information to the police..."

I exchanged a look with my best friend, trying hard not to sigh at the irony of what he was scolding me for.

"- Well, I was on my way ta do that but, as ya saw, it got busy... Would ya happen ta have a map o' Kyoto ? I'll show ya where it is."

The man took his phone out and gave it to me a minute later, the screen showing a navigation software.

"- Ok, that's around here. That pack o' _abandoned_ houses is connected. We went there around midday. Thirty minutes later, the guards switched. It is probably a routine, so I'd advise ya ta strike at this moment."

Okay, that part was totally made up. But I knew we'd need some extra time if we wanted ta save Tanioka's son. I nevertheless avoided Kudô's probably surprised look, not wanting to be destabilized by him.

"- Noted." The policeman said as he looked at the screen to see the location I was pointing at.

"- Just ta be sure, could ya tell us if there has been any leak ta any one about the fact Saijô's been sent back ta jail an' that I'm alive?

\- It hasn't been announced to the public yet... What's your point ?

\- I wouldn' want them ta be suspicious, that guy may have known where their HQ were so if they thought he could have said anythin' compromisin', they could be packin' right now. Lucky it's not the case.

\- Yes. I'll be heading to the Police Station then, we need to arrest those criminals as soon as possible. I want to find you two right here when I'll be coming back this afternoon, there are still some things missing in your story.

\- Haiiii..." Kudô answered with his best - absolutely fake - obedient tone.

"- Laters then." I said with a reassuring smile to, before displaying a serious face the second he closed the door behind him.

"- Nice idea that "you should attack around half past midday" thingy...

\- Thanks. We're goin' ta get busy, we need that extra time..." I explained, getting up to fetch my things before my best friend put his hand on my stomach to push me back on the bed.

"- Some things can be done from here. The longest we stay here, the less suspicious they'll be. And don't forget that IV, I'd prefer you to stay with it as long as possible, you're too heavy for me to carry you around if you pass out once again...

\- Yes, _Okan_... Ok, first step, the Superintendent ?

\- Nah. If we want them to accept his demand to free or see his son, we have to convince them Saijô got you. So let's call them first."

My best friend got his bowtie out but I quickly took it from his hands.

"- Ya suck at Kansai-ben, I'll do the talkin' " I grinned.

o.O.o

"- Ok, Saijô is "on stand-by" so now, time fer Tanioka ta enter the stage? Want ta call them an' pose as him or want ta try somethin' with the real one ?

\- We'll need the real one. And his car.

\- Think we can trust him ?

\- I think he has been pretty shocked to throw you at Saijô, so just remind him once or twice how awful it was and he'll eat in your hand.

\- Ya're scary sometimes, ya know..." I grinned at my friend, a bit worried but nevertheless amused by his ideas.

Thirty minutes later, the guy was entering my hospital room and, just as Kudô said, his head was low and he was barely able to look at me.

His eyes stopped a second on my IV and the bandage around my arm, his head disappearing even lower, if it was possible, between his shoulders.

"- I can' express how much I'm sorry, Hattori-kun... How are ya doin' ?

\- Oh, I'm f... Ouch !"

I threw a dark glare at my best friend, rubbing the arm he just pinched. Ok, ok, forget the 'I'm fine', play the victim. I so hated doing that.

"- I'm better, thank ya. Still have ta stay here a little while though, apparently."

That at least wasn't a lie. The doctor came right after Ayanokoji left, telling me how lucky I had been to know such a fine - and well equipped in terms of anti-venom - policeman. Most of the poison had been neutralized by what he gave me and the IV was more there as a safety measure, there shouldn't be any risk left. I had thought I was going to be freed from it a minute later but then he insisted on how important it was for me to keep it at least 12 hours. 12 damn hours. NEVER.

"- I'm sorry ta hear that...

\- Then help me. I think K... Conan-kun explained ya a bit what we wanted ta do ?

\- Yea, but it's..."

I could see the man was hesitating, of course he would. His career was as good as dead but there was still his son. And, even if our plan shouldn't put his life at risk, we were going to put him in danger.

"- There's no turning back, Superintendent General Tanioka. I already gave the information about the hideout to Ayanokoji-keibu...

\- I know, he asked me ta allow him ta organize this operation...

\- An' ?" I wondered, a bit afraid to discover the man had lost the small courage he managed to gather to give my location to Kudô.

"- He's goin' ta lead the operation an' I allowed him ta use every resource necessary."

I smiled at the news, though feeling a bit guilty to have had doubt about him. The men who indirectly helped killing Oyaji were going to be arrested as well. This day was probably going to turn to be better than its beginning announced.

"- So now, what's left is ta save yer son." I said, while my partner held his phone to him.

"- Ok.

\- Remember what I told you ?"

The policeman nodded at Kudô's question before taking the phone and pushing the speaker button.

"- Let's do this."

o.O.o

"- It's Tanioka.

\- ... I think we told you not to call at that number.

\- I did everythin' ya told me ta. An' I'm still not seein' my son back home. What else do ya want ?!

\- We don't know yet but no way we'd just let you go... or your son.

\- Come on, I can' just do this anymore... I even gave ya that kid ! Even when I knew what could happen ta him, even if he wasn' any older than my own son... Kami only knows what ya did ta him ! No, this is too much, just... Just at least let me see Takeo, it's been two weeks already !"

I was surprised to hear the man's emotion in his voice. Even if I had wanted to resent him, I don't think I would have been able to... The man was just a classical blackmail victim. Trying to save the one he cared about but not wanting to throw away everything he was. That was the nasty thing in a well-organized blackmail. Always start with tiny things. Pointless missions, without too much guilt. And then increase the level of commitment. I didn't think the Tanioka from two weeks ago would have called them to sell me to Saijô. But it had been almost an evidence to today's Tanioka. Yea, once again if needed, a proof the guys in front of us weren't amateurs.

There had been a short silence on the phone, the man probably consulted someone else, with an higher rank, before speaking again.

"- Ok to see him. Ten minutes, no more. Let's say three p.m. .

\- I'd be suspicious If I left at this hour... Can' we do this durin' luch ? Half past twelve fer example ? Time fer me ta go wherever ya want ta do this meetin' ?

\- ... Ok. Here are the coordinates..."

Kudô noted the numbers the criminal enounced on his little notebook and looked back at us when the conversation ended.

"- Ok, and now, time to organize that meeting..."

o.O.o

Half past twelve had been coming fast. Too fast. We had been preparing what we could from my hospital room, with the help of a really motivated Tanioka. The man was smart and quick to come with ideas, he probably was excellent to his job, it was really a waste he decided to listen to those criminals instead of trying to face them.

But I'm not sure I wouldn't have done the same than him if someone I loved had been in danger so I couldn't really judge him.

Thinking of "loved ones" had reminded me I said we would come back to Osaka in the morning but that clearly wasn't going to happen so I sent a text to Okan, telling her we were alright and we'd be late. I knew it was going to have her worried but I preferred to add that this information should stay within the ones under our roof.

I had after switched off my phone to focus on the operation, starting by me sneaking out of the hospital. Ok, Tanioka had found three men to help him but we didn't know how many they'd be on the other side and being young could help not to look too suspicious, so I needed to also be there. Well, those were my arguments, but I think the man agreed more by guilt than convinced by my logic.

Well, we were now on a dock, waiting for the men to arrive.

The superintendent was the only person visible. Two of his men were snipers, hidden on the top of some nearby containers, and the last man was hiding in his car, ready to seize any occasion. Kudô and I were hiding a bit further, the car would have to pass in front of us to reach the meeting point.

And there it was, a few minutes after half past twelve.

A quick look at the car told us there were at least three men and that apparently Tanioka's son was here, information I gave immediately to the other policemen through the earplug they gave me.

"- Let's go..." Kudô ordered after I finished my report.

Still hiding behind a container, we came the closest we could of the scene, close enough to be able to listen to them.

"- Takeo ! " was saying Tanioka when the three men went down the car and his son finally appeared.

"- Tou-san !" The teen spurted as he rushed to hug his father.

I was a bit surprised to see his hands weren't tied but, well, a closer look at his "nannies" solved that mystery quite quickly : I could see guns at their belts, they weren't even hiding them.

"- As you said, we think it's time for this to stop, Tanioka..."

One of the men, their boss probably, announced with a grin, his hand getting closer to his weapon.

I tensed, feeling that augured nothing good and indeed...

"- So we thought about ending our cooperation."

The first bullet shot hit the Superintendent in the arm as he pushed his son on the floor and then, a noisy mayhem followed.

My best friend and I could only witness the scene, seeing how fast it started. And ended.

The three criminals were on the floor, wounded at different levels of seriousness, but still breathing from what I saw as I passed them.

I looked at the officer, concerned about his wound but the man was already getting up, holding his son against him despite his bloody arm. Tanioka had been ready to go to any length to save his child. Not unlike a certain Superintendent General...

After one last sad smile, I turned to Kudô to ruffle his hair with a grin of enthusiasm.

"- Time ta give ya back ta yer Nee-chan, _boya_."

* * *

 **And here is the end of... this chapter ! (what did you think ? :p). But clearly not of that story, we're barely half way... See you Wednesday for more of 'Tiger' ; )**


	11. Chapter 10 - over or not ?

**Hey !**

 **Sooo time for this story to have a little twist... hope you'll appreciate ; )**

 **Oh, and we're soon are going to see 'that elusive one'... :p**

 **o.O.o**

 **emmahoshi : Yea, I'm mean with him... xD I imagine Hakuba as Ayanokoji sometimes, when I write their dialogues xD Haha, i'm not sure Heiji wants t annoy Kudo right now, not after being punched in the face ^^ Hey, I think we all know here we don't want to have Conan as an enemy... he says it himself : detectives are sharks and I wouldn't want to have one as an enemy xD You don't see more ? But there's so so much more... ; ) I'll be surprising you next chapters then :p Ah yes, I think this is the first chapter where Heiji is, let's say 90%, himself. I wanted to show an evolution. A slow one and not a straight one but an evolution still : ). Ah, your keyboard is once again annoying you ?^^; Though, don't worry, everything was understandable !**

 **aerinechan : Haha, un peu de patience hein ; ) Et oui, leur duo est fun et j'ai pas fini de les faire coopérer... Quoiqu'il va pas tarder à y avoir un 3e larron dans leur groupe pour quelques chapitres... ca va être marrant ca aussi xD**

 **estelle : Hé, j'ai dit que j'étais en manque d'Heiji, j'allais pas plier ça en 10 chapitres ; ) Et oui, je suis une tendre en fait... Tanioka n'est qu'une victime après tout. Et il a récupéré son fils, ce que les autres choix ne lui garantissaient pas alors... Why not, nan ?**

* * *

 **Chapter 10 - Over... Or not ?**

* * *

As much as I wanted to go back, we first had to go back to the Police Station, to be sure the arrest of the criminal group by Ayanokoji had been a success and that the Superintendent would surrender, just has he promised.

The man had been quickly tended by the medics his team called on the scene but insisted to go back to the Station before being taken to the hospital. We kind of knew why…

So it was a bit tired – the night had been too short for two teenagers in need of sleep ! - we arrived at the Police Station one hour later. Seeing Ayanokoji was still not back, Tanioka decided to call him, under Kudô's and my expecting look.

But when the man came back with a smile, we knew it was over.

"- They got them. They arrested more than twenty men, secured their weapons stock, includin' the perforatin' munition they used durin' the operation o' retrieval o' Saijô… They also found some computers, we may find some interestin' information in there, as ta which kind o' traffic they have been meddlin' with… An' that's if Saijô doesn' want ta speak beforehand.

\- Any casualties?" I wondered.

"- Two men have been wounded but nothin' too serious.

\- Great news. "

I felt a weight taken off my shoulders. I couldn't say if I was happy or sad. Happy for those guys to have been arrested. Sad because now that this case was wrapped, I wouldn't have anything left to hide behind and I was going to have to face my new life. A life without my father.

I was starting to get lost in my thoughts when my best friend's childish voice brought me back to reality.

"- So now that your son is safe... It is time...

\- Yea."

Tanioka looked with a sad smile at the policeman near him and took out his insignia and his weapon.

"- Fuji, I'd like ya ta put me under arrest."

The man's face was so astonished as the Superintendent put his things in his hands that I would have laughed if it wasn't such a serious mater.

"- I'll explain it ta ya. But I shouldn' be able ta walk free, that, I can tell ya." The - now former -policeman turned to us one last time, his eyes first on Kudô, then on me. "Thank ya. An' sorry, once again."

I nodded at him and, after a short time to give my deposition, I walked away, the fake boy on my heels. Now, it was up to the police. We had done everything we could, the bad guys had been arrested. Our role as detectives was over.

I looked up, to see the sun was here, finally able to get rid of the clouds hiding it.

Perfect weather for a bike ride.

"- Let's go !"

o.O.o

As the sun announced it, the travel back to Osaka had been agreeable. Which was appreciable, seeing how unpleasant it was soon going to turn out.

With a sigh, knowing once again I'll be scolded for showing up at 3 p.m. instead of 9 a.m., with just a single mysterious text as a warning, I pushed the door open.

"- Tadaima..."

A bit surprised not to hear a chorus of "O kaeri", seeing how many persons were here when we left, I stepped in, to see Okan was coming to welcome us.

"- O kaeri." Were her only words and she looked at me from head to toes, her eyes stopping briefly at my damaged shirt.

"- Nothin' serious, promise. " I said, quickly putting a hand in front of my abdomen so she wouldn't focus on it.

She seemed to ignore that last comment and just hugged me with a relieved sigh.

"- So ? " She bluntly asked as she let me go and locked her eyes in mine.

"- We got them.

\- Good.

\- Where are the others ?" Kudô wondered, having slipped towards the living room to probably let us some intimacy but now coming back with an interrogative expression.

"- Ah, sorry boya but Ran-chan an' Kogoro-han had ta go back ta Tokyo, Kogoro-han didn' want ran-chan ta skip school any longer. I promised them we'd send ya back with the Shinkansen. Ya aren' afraid ta take the train alone ?

\- Nope, I'm a big boy !"

I tried not to chuckle at my best friend's act, the smile on his face so... innocent ? Nah, he was good, really... That made him so fun to watch.

"- Great ! Yer Neechan took yer things so we'll just drop ya at the station.

\- I'll do it." I volunteered, shrugging at the shadow of concern on her face. "Where are Kazuha an' Yamato ?

\- I pushed Kazuha out o' here so she would also go ta school. Yamato-han has been called by a patient, he had ta leave.

\- Ok...

\- By the way, have ya eaten anythin' yet ?"

I looked at Kudô, trying to see if I was forgetting a meal he'd remember but nah, our last meal was the previous evening, at the vending machines. I was surprising even myself : I had clearly been distracted as hell to forget even one meal. Well, now that I was thinking at everything that happened in between, we had been quite busy !

"- Haha, got it, I'll be reheatin' some leftovers. Don' worry, Ran-chan made them, it should be safe." She added with a wink at my attention.

o.O.o

After a long and poignant goodbye... Ok, after an old good glare from my best friend - well the joke I made just before deserved it, let's be honest - I waved one last time to Kudô, sending him back as promised to Tokyo.

Once the train left, I yawned as I looked at the clock on the platform. 4 p.m. The problem of having a good meal being solved, I was still in need of a nap. And a shower, that, I felt it despite the fact I removed my shirt to avoid to be seen in public in bloody clothes.

I knew the shower should be the first thing but now that everything was over, I felt numb. The physical and emotional exhaustion of the last hours... days even was draining me.

So I just came back and crashed on my bed, to the apparent amusement of my mother, seeing the face she had when she woke me up two hours later, and spotted the pool of drool under me.

Well, it could happen when you slept on the stomach, ok ? Nothing to laugh about...

I retrieved what was left of my wounded pride to have a quick shower and couldn't escape Yamato's examination after Okan told him I had been hurt when he came back. I'd have one day to define what a "scratch" was to my mother, she didn't seem to get it.

Oh well, I was now arriving in the living room, rested and smelling good. Time for dinner !

Or not, since the bell rang and well, being the closest, I went to open the door.

To face Kazuha.

The girl didn't seem in a good mood - well seeing my recent "jokes", no wonder - but she was as white as a sheet. And, when I was the problem, it was more about being red with anger.

With a concerned face, I approached her, seeing she wasn't really moving to come in.

"- Kazuha?

\- Heiji !" She said, throwing herself in my arms and starting to shake.

"- Hey, what's happenin'?

\- It's Tou-san... He's been arrested !

\- ... What ?!"

o.O.o

I invited Kazuha to come in once I let her go, not really able to get more information out of her, sending an embarrassed look to my mother, not really knowing what to do.

"- Hey, don' worry, I'm sure that's a mistake..." Okan said, gently rubbing her shoulder as she helped her to sit down. "Ya can stay here as long as ya wish, ok ?"

I was wondering why I hadn't been informed of such an important thing beforehand by any of my "contact" in the Police but then I remembered. I switched off my phone this morning but never switched it on...

Stepping a bit aside, I quickly started it to see that indeed, I had been missing a few things... Though "few" was a feeble word to describe the many calls I got from Otaki-han.

Crap...

Well, it was time to catch-up with my favourite source of information.

"- Hei-chan ?! I've been tryin' ta contact ya fer ages !

\- Yea, sorry, was a bit busy with that criminal organisation in Kyoto... What happened? Kazuha just told me about Toyama-han...

\- Wait a sec..."

I could hear at the noise that Otaki-han was moving, probably wanting to isolate from the others. That guess was confirmed at his voice when he spoke again, barely above a whisper.

"- Hei-chan, I can' tell ya how much this is fishy...

\- What do ya mean ?

\- Toyama-han thought yer father's death wasn' that much o' an accident. That he could have been the real target.

\- Wow, what ?!"

I wouldn't say I'd feel less guilty if it was true but this was clearly something else : killing a teenager because of an old grudge and attacking a Superintendent General weren't implying at all the same repercussions.

"- An' he became sure o' it when the new Superintendent arrived yesterday... Kasai. His nomination has nothin' ta do with luck. A politician pulled strings ta put him here. An' as soon as Toyama-han tried ta look a bit closer at him an' his surprisingly fast nomination, as if by magic, he got arrested fer corruption. Coincidence ? My ass...

\- Ya mean he thinks Oyaji could have been killed so this man could have his position ? An' that they used Saijô ta cover their tracks ? Seein' he was already willin' ta kill me...

\- That's what Toyama-han thinks an' I don' think this idea is that crazy.

\- That's... big." I managed to say, astonished by what Otaki-han was implying.

And the organization we brought down this morning, what was it ? Just a scapegoat ?!

Impossible for such a small structure to have such a high-ranking politician among them. Or to have ramifications big enough to cover both Osaka and Kyoto.

What the hell what that mess...

"- Keep an eye on him, Otaki-han...

\- I was plannin' ta.

\- But be careful, seems serious.

\- I noticed, Hei-chan !" He answered, almost sounding amused. Well, a teenager, me above all, was trying to tell him to be cautious, I guess I'd laugh too.

"- An' ya, what are ya goin' ta do?

\- Stick my nose everywhere I can. I'm gifted fer that apparently..." I admitted with a smirk.

"- Well, be careful too... Because I don' think we'll be able here, at the station, ta help ya as much as we'd want with that guy here...

\- Yea, I guess... Later !"

I hung up, clenching my teeth.

This wasn't a little blackmail any more. It was so much bigger. Murdering a high-rank police officer to put someone in his stead ? Corruption or active participation from a high-ranked politician ? Using a whole criminal society as a smokescreen ? It was...

The slight peace of mind I had been able to build since this morning was long forgotten. To know that Oyaji had been killed like you'd get rid of a useless pawn on a chess board was so much pissing me off...

"- Heiji ?"

Kazuha's voice got me out of my brooding and I noticed my feet already took me back to the living room.

"- I've been able ta talk with Otaki-han. He confirmed Toyama-han was under arrest, fer suspicion o' corruption... There doesn' seem ta be a lot o' elements though...

\- Tou-san would never do that !" Kazuha refused with vehemence.

"- My dear, no one in this room is doubtin' it..." Okan said, gently patting her. "They will necessarily see they're mistaken.

\- I hope so..."

To be honest, there wasn't a lot of conviction in my voice. That case stank... Clearly.

I was glad I had been able to rest a bit this afternoon because this night was going to be busy...


	12. Chapter 11 - Charity

**Hey there !**

 **Let's go a bit deeper in that case... And try to see who's behind all this though the answer won't come too fast.. Oh well, you'll know who the next chapter's guest at least ; )**

 **o.O.o**

 **aerinechan : Béé t'inquiète, il est pas loin le ptiot... ; ) Et oui, on monte d'un cran tout d'un coup, reste à savoir qui a organisé tout ça... quant au troisième larron, et bien on va en parler rapidement :p**

 **emmahoshi : Yup, I remembered : ) Haha, yea, sorry I chose the title before thinking about that twist so... it may deviate a bit now ^^;Ah, nah, I won't be that mean, I don't plan to have Heiji back into the depths of sorrow ^^;; He'll be frustrated but no turning back. Hey, you'll see, but of course I plan to have more of our little conan in that story ; )**

 **estelle : No worries, our small detective is never far away... who'd slap some sense into heiji's head else ? :p**

* * *

 **Chapter 11 : Charity**

* * *

After a silent and gloomy dinner, I escaped to my room, leaving Kazuha in my mother's hands, to call my best friend. I knew I had to. I needed his sources of information, mine being very probably neutralized by that damn Superintendent General.

With a sigh, I dialled his number, waiting a bit for him to answer as he was probably looking for an isolate corner to speak freely.

"- Hey, made it safely at home, Mr Big boy ?" I couldn't stop myself to joke, though my tone wasn't absolutely right.

"- Yea, my Nee-chan came to fetch me at the station, no way I could get lost, right ?"

I smiled at the sour voice of my friend. Sometimes, it was harder for him to play his role and I guessed that, after 2 days with me, running after bad guys like the teen detective he was, returning back to his sad reality had to be hard.

"- So, why are you calling? And don't tell me you already miss me.

\- Ya're so cold, Kudô, sometimes…" I complained with a fake hurt tone. Before getting serious. "Ta be honest, I'd prefer ta call ya fer somethin' else but… Toyama-han got arrested.

-… What?!

\- Suspicion o' corruption, accordin' ta his new boss. But if ya read between the lines, ya'll see 'stuck his nose where he shouldn' have'. Kudô, he discovered… Oyaji was a target from the beginnin'. "

His silence told me he was already thinking hard about the implications.

"- So that organization we stopped was just a decoy ?

\- Ended with the same conclusion, yea.

\- This is big, Hattori… Planning the murder of a Superintendent General ? This is no joke…

\- Ya don' have ta tell me this…

\- I'm saying I don't want you to just jump in front of the one who took your father's position and throw baseless accusations at him…

\- I know that, ahou ! Why d'ya think I'm callin' ya fer ?!" I spurted with anger, bored of my two best friends to play the "nanny". Or to try to replace Oyaji.

I sighed, knowing I shouldn't have yelled. "I know, Kudô. So could ya look into that guy ? I'll try ta get the name o' the politician who put him here too.

\- Spell his name."

o.O.o

Four hour later, I was rubbing my eyes with exhaustion. And frustration.

Nothing. That Kasai didn't seem to exist between his nomination as a policeman in Okinawa right after he got his diploma and his sudden appearance as a Superintendent General. His career was supposed to have been developing in the south but. Did you know how many damn islands there were in the archipelago of Okinawa ?! That guy could come from the other side of the world, for what I knew…

And, seeing the lack the documents about him, that could be true.

Even when I used the old good logins from Oyaji to check the police's files– thanks kami for the HQ not to have cancelled them yet – there wasn't anything. Out of the academy at 22, 48 years old, flawless career, exemplary behaviour, not the slightest ripple in his life as a policeman…

All lies, right ?

Before listening to my tired body and stopping, I took the names of the ones he had been supposed to have worked with in the south, wanting to try to give them a call as soon as possible.

And then lied down, my heart and my head still running.

I couldn't say if I was happy or not... Perhaps the slightest bit less guilty, I had to admit it, but that wouldn't bring me back my father. Oyaji was stern, no use hiding it. But he still was… had been my father. A model of righteousness. His whole life had been dedicated to hunting down the criminals and for that, he had to be remembered of. And even if he didn't really seem to want me to go towards a career of private detective, he never stopped me once. Never. Hinted his disagreement, sometimes, but he never ordered me to stop.

And to know he had been killed on purpose was so much annoying me. Saijô was mad. He had killed a lot already, much more than anyone should. Enough to be seen as a killing machine by some, who so intelligently used him… They offered him his freedom against another murder, which so conveniently implied he'd have an additional "reward" : me and the chance to have his revenge.

I didn't know when I fell asleep, lost in my thoughts, but, when I opened my eyes, it was in broad daylight.

o.O.o

"- Heiji ?"

I could feel Okan's surprised look when she saw me entering the living room.

Well, no wonder, seeing I was in my high-school uniform, for the first time of the week.

"- Yea, I'll be goin' back ta school today. Safe food ?" I asked casually with a suspicious look at the food on the table as I sat near it.

"- Yes, I called the maid back. It was a bit hard fer me ta have someone around those last days but I'm feelin' better… An' I can' handle everythin' in this wide house by myself or ask Kazuha-chan ta do it...

\- I guess..." I smiled at her. "Aikido club this mornin' ?

"- Yea, she left one half hour ago. I think she needed something ta decompress so I encouraged her ta go there. An' ya, why the sudden motivation ?

\- I need somethin' ta change my mind. I couldn' find anythin' about that new Superintendent General, so I'd just be like a horse with a tooth ache here, waitin' fer my ... sources o' information ta come back ta me... Nah, I'm better at school in the meanwhile. Unless ya tell me ya need a presence at home ?

\- Nah, the maid is here an' Yamato promised he'd visit every time he'll pass around here so I'm good. An' I'd feel better ta know ya're at school. I was afraid fer a while last night ya'd... I don' know, just run into the police station an' start accusatin' that man..."

I had a grin at her worries, amused to see even my mother was thinking I was able to take the worst decisions.

"- I'm the great detective of the West, I can act with tact sometimes ! I don' think goin' frontal would help... Nah, I'll be waitin' ta see what he wants..."

Because that was one of my biggest questions... Ok, the position of Superintendent General would open a lot of doors. But his nomination had been so fast, it was due to bring some suspicions... And, seeing the ones behind this seemed pretty intelligent, it meant they had no other choice.

So time would quickly give me that answer but I was still wondering what it would be...

* * *

o.O.o

* * *

Two weeks later, I was starting to feel impatient and my frustration was reaching a peak...

I had received some information from Kudô, without really getting more answers than what I already had. Through his acquaintances in the MPD, he could confirm the man had really been to the academy so he really was a cop. After that, even for the MPD, the Okinawa islands were too far for them to have anything interesting.

We thought for a second to ask Kudô's acquaintances from the FBI also but weren't really convinced about it, seeing these were internal affairs so we didn't try. Those agents were specialized in international criminals, not internal conflicts.

Our second suspicious man was the one who put him here. Hidaka Atsushi, a politician. There weren't a lot of thing about his youth and his political debut but impossible to know if it was because nothing happened or because he paid to have a "new beginning", hiding whatever could have hindered his career under a bunch of money. The man's name was nevertheless appearing often here and there, in political debates. Unlike that Kasai, the man had been active recently, and before this sudden intervention. He had been holding a seat in the Diet for two years now, allowing him quite the political power, like for example, establishing a new Superintendent General in a provincial branch of the Police...

I looked with a sigh at the picture of those two men on my bed, in front of me as I lied on my stomach, my chin on my hand.

Hidaka was... well, a kind of stereotyped politician. Hairs starting to whiten on the temples, though not that rare, a bit plumb, and that fake smile they all had, with a lot of white teeth.

Kasai was sterner. His skin was dark, like mine, and his eyebrows were pretty close, giving him a severe look even on that picture on which he tried to smile. His posture was straight, his shoulders wide, you could feel his past as a policeman.

I was using that word, 'past', because I had tried to give a few calls, passing as a policeman from Osaka's police trying to 'take the temperature' about that new 'boss of mine' but no one seemed to really have heard of him, confirming my little group's fears.

Whatever the man had been doing these last years, it wasn't within the police.

My phone vibrating made me jump, a bit surprised in my contemplation of the two pictures.

"- Hi Hei-chan!

\- Hey, Otaki-han, how are ya doin' ?

\- Great, now that I have good news fer ya !

\- I'm all ears !" I said with enthusiasm, eager to have some news from the police's side, frustrated not to find by myself anything convincing enough against that fake policeman.

"- We've been asked this mornin' ta be part o' the security in a charity party in Osaka in two weeks. Only VIPs, ya wouldn' imagine how difficult it would be ta get a seat in there...

\- I'm not really interested in charity so I wouldn' fight ta get a seat… Though I guess that, if ya're talkin' about it, it means I'd like ta be there?

\- Remember ya asked me ta check if there was anythin' a Superintendent General could do that anyone else in the Police Station wouldn' ? That is part o' it. Kasai has a seat with his name on it because o' his position. He doesn' even have ta ask...

\- Could there be anythin' interestin' in there ?

\- Money, jewels, targets... Everythin' ya want, ta be honest...

\- Ta the point he'd get rid o' the former Superintendent ta get there ?

\- That, I can' tell, but I can tell ya that party is quite somethin'.

\- Ok... Ya mentioned some targets ?

\- Yea... We've been asked ta be extra cautious about three guests who could be at risk, due ta some threats. Wait a sec', I'm getting' my notes out. Ok, so : Arimachi Chikako-han, head o' her family's Zaibastu, actually strugglin' in her project ta build a dam in a protected area, since most o' the locals speak against the natural disaster it would cause. She received some anonymous threats through mails. Yasumoto Daiki-han, a male politician, probably the next head o' the most influent republican party around here. His positions about the national services, includin' the police, aren' really popular. Someone attempted ta kill him last month...

\- Sounds like a nice guy...

\- Yea, I can tell ya no one is really fond o' him around here, I wouldn' even surprised if that attempt was comin' from someone from the 'house'... An' the third is Sahashi Iwao-han, a famous author, mostly because o' the mysterious aura he has. His books are always polemical, that's why he only appears once or twice in public durin' the year. His next book seems ta already bring him some problems, he has received some serious threats askin' him not ta publish it.

\- Ok..." I said, looking at the names I wrote in front of me. "Thanks fer the intel, Otaki-han. An' keep a low profile !

\- Yup ! Laters !"

I couldn't even put my phone back in my pocket that I felt it vibrated once again.

Kudô's name was on the screen. Nice timing, I was planning to call him after investigating those three guys but having him search on his side also wouldn't hurt, to be honest.

"- Hey, Kudô !

\- Hello Hattori. Would you still happen to have some room for three persons at home ?

\- Why ? Wanna visit with Occhan an' Neechan ?

\- Yea, a friend of mine told us he'd come around your place...

\- Someone I know ?" I wondered, at the slightly ironic tone of my best friend.

"- Yep. The Kaitou Kid.

\- Oh, then it's not me ya come ta see in Osaka, it's yer favourite Thief... Ya damn fangirl.

\- Ba'aro, I'm not coming to Osaka to admire him, I'm coming to stop him !

\- Didn' really work the last time... Or the time before.

\- Eh, it's the first time you'll meet him, you'll see he isn't that easy to catch !

\- Hai, hai ! So, what's his new target ? Ya received the notice already ?

\- Yea... The Kid will come at a charity party next weekend. A wealthy heiress will be here, one who always hangs around with a sapphire necklace, a sapphire supposed to belong to the five biggest of the world...

\- What a great idea... Let's hang around with half a billion yens around the neck..." I observed with irony, finding the idea pretty stupid. "Ta be honest, I was already plannin' ta invite ya ta that party Kudô. We have another reason ta go there..."


	13. Chapter 12 - Preparing the encounter

**Hey !**

 **Looks like it's time to prepare a Thief's hunt ! But who knows who will trap who... :p**

 **o.O.o**

 **emmahoshi : people occupying your room o.O Hope you could get them out, sleep is important ! Though, it allowed you to have the chapter earlier so it's not 100% bad, right ? xD Haha,sorry, but I do need to introduce some new characters : ) Focus on the two suspicious looking ones (the politician and the Superintendent) and the target (when you'll know who it is...) and you'll be safe :p I love sarcasm too and I really like how it fits Shinichi to be sarcastic so... Maa, it's more a kind of coincidence for the Kid to be here, not something planned before... A bit like the scarlet train thing, it was a bit of luck : ) I like my readers to have their heads full of questions, it's funnier like that ; )**

 **maplebuggo : Ah, all my stories should be read independently, except when mentioned otherwise : ) I always start from a "normal" situation and turn it into a nightmare xD So it's too messy afterwards to start a new thing usually. Except for "Cold drugs" and "Sunflowers". But there are some things I can use from one story to another. I liked this Yamato character and, even if you didn't read "Detective", you probably don't feel you're missing something. The ones who read it though, know why Heizo and Yamato had some problems with each other and have a bit more info about him :) This story could supposedly happen after "Detective" but you'll see why it can't after : ) Glad you like those stories despite th fact Shin isn't the main character, I feel proud to be able to have your attention without that ^^ And yes, I have to admit it, my stories are usually pretty long because I love all those twists, those little cases that turn into international ones... Isn't this how the fight with the BO began in DC ? ; ) ps : Crap, you've seen through me ! Nah, joking, I already mentioned it and, when you look at my stories, no need to be a genius to see the more I like a character, the more angst and tragedy I throw at them xD** **I bet some psychologist would say it's some kind of childhood trauma but seeing how people (you included apparently :p) like this kind of stuff (damn, there's even a word for that o.O), I'd say it's more of a trendy thing xD I'll just admit one more thing... I'm taming myself xD**

* * *

 **Chapter 12 : Preparing the encounter**

* * *

The next Saturday morning, just as planned, the Mouri were on my doorstep. It was rare for Mouri-han to come twice in a row - and I kind of preferred not to have him under my feet when I was investigating with Kudô seeing how useless he was. But I could guess he'd want to come for the heist, question was if it was to find any way to look good - haha... - or out of concern for his daughter and his freeloader since those _shows_ weren't always without any risk.

Oh well, Okan was glad to have guests, it made the house more lively and helped her to focus on something else than her loneliness. I had to admit I appreciated it also : those two weeks where I had been unable to really progress on the investigation about the ones who ordered Oyaji's murder had been getting on my nerves and I knew I was quick to anger, even more than usual - which was saying something for me - irritated by my own helplessness.

I was nevertheless trying to keep it down, at least at home, I couldn't yell at Okan and Kazuha all day long... They weren't in any need of it, neither of them.

I could tell it wasn't easy on my childhood friend to have her father in jail and the school hadn't be reacting pretty well at these news, some being pretty much annoying with her. The hell the girl had anything to do with that ? These were all lies, lies from that damn Kasai... No need to say the words "stop with yer bullshit" had been yelled quite a few times from my throat at those ahou. It was pissing me off and I knew I'd have them apologize - forcibly if necessary - once I'd proven Toyama-han was just a victim...

I tried to visit him once or twice with Kazuha - she was there almost every day - but he was always so heavily guarded, I couldn't ask anything to him without having a bunch of witnesses, all probably devoted to the Superintendent General, probably because they ignored who he was...

It was frustrating to feel how Oyaji had already been long forgotten and with him, his right-hand. Most of the Police Station was still a bit sceptic about those accusations, according to Otaki-han, but the longer Toyama-han stayed in jail, the more would believe something was fishy about him.

We had been unable to have any intel as to what exactly was reproached to him, the secret had been well-kept by both Kasai and the internal affairs. The only hint, and it wasn't good, was that the man was still in jail, when he should have walked free after 48h if there wasn't any proof.

So well, having Kudô and Neechan at home would do some good to everyone in the house and, after the usual polite salutations, the four of us took the opportunity to leave home, to get some fresh air.

We hung around a bit in the town, for once not interrupted by a murder, which wasn't that bad once in a while, before stopping in a park, and Kudô and I were bringing back some cans to share with them when we heard their excited chatter.

"-... An' he opened the door just at that moment...

\- Oh my..."

I froze at the voices, guessing exactly at what moment Kazuha was referring. Living together wasn't really a hinder. The girl was great - don't repeat that too loud to her - helpful and supportive.

Despite her own worries, she tried to shoulder me, at least emotionally, since I didn't want to mention the investigation at home, in those difficult times. Kazuha and her joyful character were bringing some light in that house and I couldn't say I was against it.

But, well, being used to live only with my parents, I wasn't really psychologically prepared to have to mind every damn door I'd open. And what was due to happen happened, forcing me to learn the hard way when I opened the bathroom's door, to find her in her underwear, a look of surprise on the face. So damn cliché. Needless to say the surprise quickly turned into anger and I barely escaped a wooden bucket thrown at my face along with cries of "AHOU" despite the fact I closed the door pretty fast. With embarrass and some crimson on my cheeks.

"- ... It's not like I wouldn' really mind if we were together but... He keeps escapin' when I try ta confess an', on the other side, he spurts things like "don' touch my Kazuha"... Sometimes I really don' get what he wants, this is so frustratin' !

\- Haha, I get what you mean, I also have a kind of frustration on the subject right now...

\- Ya still couldn' give him yer answer ...?"

"- We shouldn't be hearing this..." Kudô finally whispered, getting me out of my reveries.

"- Ya bet... Kazuha would kill me...

\- Still, what are you waiting for ?" He grinned as he nudged me.

"- The right moment ?

\- That's a coward's answer...

-... Please not that word."

It reminded me too much of Saijô... It would take me a while to accept that word without clenching my fists with anger.

"- Sorry...

\- It's ok..." I said, shaking my head, regretting to have sounded aggressive when I didn't mean to. "I'm not in the mood, an' I bet Kazuha isn' either... I need ta close that case first an' then... I'll do it, I swear. We shouldn' wait the last moment ta tell important things...

\- What did he tell you ?" My best friend asked, his eyes now in mine, having understood that last part was a reference to Oyaji's death.

"-... That he was proud of me." I managed to say, though turning my look away. "Still surprise me a bit today...

\- It shouldn't... You're a great guy, Hattori. And count on me to help you getting rid of those hinders to your declaration. Guys like those shouldn't be able to run around."

That serious look on my friend's face, on his 7 years old face, was so cute it brought a smirk on my face, lifting a tiny bit of that weight on my heart.

"- Thanks, pal." I said, ruffling his hair with affection before going out of our hideout as naturally as possible. "We're back with the drinks !"

o.O.o

"- Ok, so what's the plan ?" I asked, half-sitting on my desk as I looked at my best friend throwing himself on my bed after we had lunch and managed to escape to the girls as they left for some shopping.

"- Hmm, well, the Kid's target is Arimachi Chikako-san...

\- One o' Otaki-han's list on top o' that...

\- Yea... According to the note I deciphered, he's supposed to come tonight, during the charity, to steal the necklace. Do you have any intel as to what kind of security there will be ? Will Nakamori-keibu be here ?

"- He'll be but he an' won' be allowed in, I confirmed it with Otaki-han this mornin'. Since Osaka's police is already watchin' the party, they didn' want anyone under their feet, not even the MPD...

\- That's so stupid, he knows him the best, he'll be useless outside...

\- I know... But that's not that stupid if Kasai's goal is somewhere else, those guys he can' order around would be a hinder.

\- What did Otaki-san say about those three guests by the way ?

\- Two policemen will be dedicated ta each. But it's more in case anythin' happens, else, they won' be followin' them around, those three wouldn' accept it… Ah, an' Otaki-han gave me some info about the place." I said, fetching a map in my desk's drawer before putting it on the bed in front of my best friend.

"- Oi, oi, didn't you tell him to stay discreet ? That much info is..."

I smiled at the startled face of the fake boy. Of course he wasn't expecting me to have a full map of the site. He shouldn't underestimate my abilities to get some intel !

"- He is, don' worry, an' I asked him ta be every day. So, accordin' ta this, there are four entrances. Main one, service one an' two emergency exits but they're locked with alarms.

\- Meaning it'll be hard to sneak in... I would have managed to do something if Nakamori-keibu had been inside but since he isn't...

\- Yea, I can' see any way ta officially attend this party.

\- Meaning we'll have to be here unofficially ?"

I grinned at my friend to show my agreement.

"- Seeing your face, you're already thinking about something…

\- Yup ! I'm not sure ya'll like it, though..."

o.O.o

"- Raah, fresh air !"

I smirked, looking at Kudô, fish-like as he gulped some air when I finally opened the duffle bag I put him in to sneak him in on my shoulder.

"- Don't laugh, lucky I'm not claustrophobic...

\- Well, we're in so it was worth the inconvenience.

-Yea..."

Our plan until now had been working as well as it could to be honest. We sneaked out of the house - I knew we were going to regret it sooner or later but it would have been endless to convince the girls to let us go so... well, that would be later. We went to the back entrance, Kudô hidden in the bag, and I claimed I was some back up sent by the chief of the company employing the waiters - I got his name from Otaki-han - since the party was going to be busy. The guard, apparently expecting that, knowing that there would be more guests than planned, many finally interested to come to see the Kaitou Kid with their own eyes, let me in without any further question, barely noticing my big bag, probably thinking it was just some material.

I had a slight make-up, just in case I'd meet someone I know, thanks to my mother's cosmetics and Kudô's basic skills in disguise, after looking so long at his mother preparing herself. I wasn't really afraid for the guests to recognize me but the police force could, so I couldn't take the risk. Though it had just been about lightening my skin and slicking my hair back.

As to Kudô, no way they'd let him in as a waiter so I we just decided to hide him in my bag, and then he'd hang around in the party, like some guests' child, invisible to all these adults never looking at their feet.

"- Ok, I'll be going, I need to hide before the party starts..." My friend declared as he held to me a Detective Boys' badge before pinning his own into his blue jacket's chest pocket. "Don't forget, you focus on the Superintendent General and his interactions with those three guests, I'll check everyone else... And whisper when you speak in your badge, else someone could hear us !

\- I know... Have fun with yer Kid's hunt..." I smirked, amused to see how excited he was when he left with a nod for what wasn't really us detective's line of work, a theft.

Though I could get solving mysteries which didn't imply someone being killed could be pleasant for once...

Grabbing my bag, I got up, and headed towards the changing room - thanks again, Otaki-han's map !

To see someone was already here, despite the early hour.

"- Eh, hi ! I'm... Rampo Hideoshi, I'm here as a backup tonight." I introduced myself, holding my hand to the - quite young - man in front of me. It was fun how he reminded me of Kudô, they had the same kind of built and a face with similarities...

The smile was almost the same, that I could see as he firmly grabbed my hand too.

"- Ah, same here, Todoki Kai"

No wonder the chief of the staff didn't really react when I said I was extra hands, with this Todoki already opening the way, I wasn't suspicious at all. My luck was with me !

"- Would ya happen ta know where are the spare uniforms ?

\- Yea, cupboard on the left, take one without name tags. And the lockers just near of them are empty, you can use them.

\- Great, thanks !"

I had taken some clothes just in case but I knew the best way not to stand out was to grab some spare uniform, there had to be some. And with a smile at the numerous tag-less suits, I knew I found just what I needed.

One hour later, I was stepping into the charity party, all dressed in black and white, in my waiter suit. Time to enter the scene !


	14. Chapter 13 - Blue and Red

**Heya !**

 **And here we are, time for some Kaito goodness ! xD**

 **Nah, promise, we'll still have our 2 detectives... Things aren't going to turn out as expected for our little Thief :p**

 **PS :I'm so glad, I'm seeing a lot of fics with Heiji in them lately, this is pure happiness too me, writers, please go on ! xD**

 **o.O.o**

 **emmahoshi : Haha, yea, totally made up on the point by Heiji... He may lack some imagination ? :p As to Kaito... Of course he's somewhere... ; ) But I won't spoil it yet ^^ Ah, well, since the heist is in Osaka and Nakamori's team has been forced to stay outside, I don't think there would be much risk for Conan to be recognized... And Heiji has make-up, right ? ^^ Ok, perhaps a tiny little risk for those two ? *looks at next chapter* yea, a little xD**

* * *

 **Chapter 13 : Blue and red**

* * *

As planned, the party was boring as hell. Old ladies with so much make up they couldn't smile else they'd risk to crack it, old men looking with drool at the corner of their mouths at the few young women, mostly the waitress and the female members of the charity's entertainment team, and, of course, this whole fake atmosphere of people trying to sound smarter, richer, and more interesting than they really were, in the hope to get the attention of the press or the well-known personalities among us.

I nevertheless managed to keep my calm - ok, I almost lost it when an already drunk middle-aged woman scolded me for not being able to fill her glass fast enough... the damn girl swallowed her drinks in one gulp, who could ?! - and to, well, in my opinion, merge easily enough among the other waiters. I had a natural balance, strong arms and the ability to avoid people thanks to kendo, which surprisingly turned out to be a perfect training to hold a plate of drinks in a crowd.

Having a bit befriend with that Todoki during the wait, we exchanged some looks from time to time, rolling our eyes to such or such customer, having desperate looks towards the most annoying ones.

I spoke to Kudô a few times through the badge to hear that, just like me - dear, I was so much regretting not to be able to put my cap on my head in those moments, he had one or two close calls, his disguise being inexistent. But how could we have guessed the Superintendent General Hakuba from the MPD would come from Tokyo? Ok, his son, the pretty much annoying half-brit detective Hakuba Saguru was supposed to be Kid's Nemesis but he wasn't even here, he was still solving some case in England according to the press. Luckily for us, the man hadn't really often seen Kudô, just having a few glimpses from him from time to time when he came to the MPD's headquarters so my friend could have him think he was mistaken. With a fake Kansai-ben. Oh kami, I so regretted no having been around there when it happened ! Must have been so fun, seeing how bad he was in my dialect – though it didn't stop him to make fun of me with my poor Kyoto-ben...

I was still laughing in my mind when a hand fell on my shoulder. Turning, knowing I'd face a guest and already annoyed by that, my eyes widened when I recognized its owner.

"- Hattori-kun ?" The other said, his look watching me with a slight startle, but I knew this startle wasn't about knowing if I was Hattori or not, it was more about understanding why the disguise. He had seen through it the first second, I could tell at his face...

"- Shhh !" I said, a finger in front of my mouth as I dragged him in a corner.

What the hell was that teen doing here... Coming in his father's stead or what ?

"- Are ya in a kind o' secret mission ?" He asked with amusement.

"- Kind o'... Just don' tell anyone I'm here, Tanioka-kun. Ya were also invited?

\- Ah, it's Sahashi-han... The author, ya know ? He's a friend o' my father an' invited us both ta this party. But seein' the circonstances... I didn' really want ta come but he convinced me, he was afraid ta get bored...

\- Aren' ya the one who'd get bored, with all these oldies ?

\- Nah, I'm good... Though probably not havin' as fun as ya... Are ya here fer the Kid ?"

The teen just gave me the excuse I needed not to have to mention Osaka's Superintendent.

"- Yea, that's it... I'm sure he's within the guests so I'm tryin' ta see as who he could be disguised...

\- But there are something like one hundred guests here...

\- Don' remind me..." I smiled with real embarrass : that "one hundred guests" was as much as a problem for a Thief's hunt than for a target's hunt...

"- Takeo-kun ! "

The boy in front of me turned around and rolled him eyes at the man who was waving at him, Sahashi-han, I recognized him from the pictures.

"- I have ta go ! See ya, Mr Detective !

\- See ya ..."

I looked at him as he met the author and the one near him, the Superintendent. I had done my best to keep an eye on him during the evening. The man was as stern as he looked on his picture, I don't think I saw him smile even once, barely noticing the corners of his mouth slightly going up when the others around him were laughing... He had been talking to the three potential targets but his behaviour had been the same with each, though perhaps a bit colder to Yasumoto-han, the man had been denigrating the police after all...

I knew Kudô was watching Arimachi-han, since she was the Kid's target, with her huge sapphire around her neck so I didn't give Kasai much attention when he talked to her.

And now he was with our mysterious author. The man didn't speak much but it wasn't from shyness. You could feel at his determinate aura the man had no problem with who he was and just lived according to his principles. Which could explain why his books seemed too polemical, if there was no social filter on some subjects, no wonder he'd get on the nerves of some.

I looked away as a guest called me - the annoying kind, I could recognize them quite well now - and helped her with a silent sigh, before looking with the eyes for Todoki for the usual silent complain that helped me to release some tension but couldn't find him.

And the fact the lights suddenly went off didn't help.

"- Ladies and gentlemen !" echoed through the room as the spotlights focused on a single point on the scene, showing a man dressed in white, bowing with a malicious smile, his hand on the rim of his hat.

I smirked at his outfit. I had of course already seen some pictures on the press and caught a glimpse of the Thief on some cases but it was the first time I was so close to him.

I couldn't stop myself to imagine that guy as a child, with his parents like : "Hey kid, if ya wanna go incognito when ya grow up, don' forget ta jump into yer white tuxedo an' its assorted hat". That was so ridiculous for a thief to hang around in such flashy clothes. Wondered how he lasted so long… Something like at least 10 years ? Crazy…

The room was still dark but I could hear the precipitated footsteps of the dozen of undercover cops in the room, rushing around the heiress, ready to protect the woman against any attempt of the Kid.

A sudden burst brought the light back in the room, forcing me to blink while a rain of confetti was falling on us, some exploding in a colourful cloud, covering with paint the ones on their way.

I was now the happy owner of a red sleeve and the cry at the other side of the room informed me that, while Arimachi was now covered with blue paint, there was nevertheless a lack of blue, just around her neck.

When the Kid, on the other side, was holding in his hand a bright sapphire that seemed to have been teleported as if by magic. The hell had been his trick ? I didn't notice anything…

"- As a modest payment for bringing some colours to this dark party despite its appraisable intent, I'll take that single necklace..."

"- Catch him !" I heard Kasai yell to his men.

At the exact same moment, I saw the Thief move one step aside, just as if nothing happened, to avoid by an inch the soccer ball I knew had been sent by my best friend and spoke again.

"- Please forgive my intrusion and enjoy the end of your d... !"

His playful tone was interrupted by a salve of bullets that echoed in the room, triggering a series of yells from the guests.

"- Sorry but we'll be the ones to get the sapphire, Thief !" A new voice announced as the lights came back into the room.

Looking in the direction it was coming from, I froze when I noticed a pack of at least 10 to 15 men in black and hoods over their faces, armed to the teeth, were entering through a door on the left of the scene. What the heck were the security and the police doing ?! And just how cursed was this party, with a murder attempt in progress, a Kaitou Kid heist and now more thieves, with a bunch of weapons ?

I saw, in the corner of my eyes thank to the spot that was directed towards him, the Kid turning on himself with a swift move of his cape when they tried to shoot him, disappearing in a bang, just before the light came back.

"- He's hiding among the crowd, find him !" Their leader ordered. "And neutralize the cops !"

Before the police officers could even react, unable to shoot because the guests were in their way and they'd risk to hit someone by accident, the criminals, having probably used Kid's performance to spot the undercover agents, were now shooting into the crowd, clearly aiming for the policemen.

Seeing one of those criminals was near of me and Sahashi-han and that we were clearly in his line of fire, I tackled the author as I could, my hands on my ears to try to attenuate the noise of the machine guns and the yells from the guests who were trying to shield themselves of anyway they could.

"- Stop that !" The Superintendent General roared among the last gunshots, getting also his weapon out to fire in the air, looking uneasy to see all his men had been, as promised, neutralized to various degrees.

I helped the old man on his feet, brushing his "thanks" away with a shrug, to see the group's leader approaching the police's leader with an arrogant look.

"- Who do you think you are ?

\- Kasai Hirô, Superintendent General of Osaka's Police. Free the hostages and surrender yourself before this turns nasty. The whole place is surrounded by the police, in case you didn't notice...

\- Don't worry about us, we know what we're doing..."

The guy had a subtle nod and one of partners slammed his weapon against the back Kasai's neck, sending him to the floor, unconscious.

Ok, that was perhaps the end of the theory "Kasai is behind all this", unless he was really a masochist...

"-Ladies and Gentlemen, I am sorry to interrupt you during such a fancy party. Please understand that, if you behave and do as I say, there won't be any other dead. Except for the Kaitou Kid."

I was frustrated not to be able to see any of those guys' face, with their hoods. I would recognize the voice of the leader, like everyone here, but had no clue about the others...

Turning my head back to the man who almost shoot the author, it was with startle that I noticed he wasn't here anymore. Anymore at all, since the only ones I could spot were the ones I already noticed. Ok, it was a bit unconsciously but thanks to my perfect visual memory, I was sure of it.

Wasn't the guy one of them then ?

I paled at that question to myself. With a second thought, the man's clothes were a bit different from those of that commando. Ok, he had the same kind of hood but his vest and his pants... were more from a tuxedo ! Now that I thought about it, he even had some yellow on his collar, due to Kid's paint. That man was part of the guests ! And he had been aiming for... Sahashi-han. No doubt about it, his weapon was pointed at the old man's back.

If I hadn't been there, the man would be dead and the police would have blamed that group, not an isolated man. Perfect plan. But how the hell could anyone organize that ?! Just how precise had been that plan... I was lacking proofs and answers but I knew I had very probably found my target. Question was how Kasai had done it and who worked with him among the guests, since the list had been so restricted...

A hit against my side with a machine gun got me out of my reasoning, forcing a surprised grunt out of my throat.

"- You didn't hear ? You go over there !"

Refraining myself from trying to knock him down, not wanting to have his other friends with machine guns on my back, I bowed my head and stepped towards the direction he indicated, sticking to Sahashi-han since he was going with me.

I clenched my fists as I looked at his back. This was going to be complicated but I swore I was going to prevent that murder. I wouldn't let Kasai win this round.


	15. Chapter 14 - time to work together ?

**Heya !**

 **Yea, time for one of my favourite combi, Hattori x Kid ! :D I prefer Conan x Heiji but this one is cool also ; )**

 **o.O.o**

 **emmahoshi : Oh, glad I was able to surprise you then : p Ah, well, since Hakuba's father is supposed to be head of the MPD, I assumed he would have met Conan's here, seeing how often the boy was here. And, as you said, Conan is in the newspaper as the Kid killer, so his face should be familiar to some, above all from Tokyo, so that's why I had him to recognize him : ) Ah, sorry for the mistake : ) AS to the paint, I used it because it was fun :p I also wanted to use it to give the identity of the culprit but didn't use it in the end. Haha,** **I'd say Heiji is being paranoid... Dont' forget we're in heiji's head, Kasai has to do something with Heizo's murder so all crimes around must be his fault... Yea, paranoid or irrational :p Oh, thanks for the ovation xD And yea, France won last match... They face Iceland next time, we'll see ^^ I'm not really fond of football, I like the sport but got bored by how money has a too important role in it (god, some referees are being paid, I'm sure of it... And being paid millions to practice your sport ? o.O) but I can't ignore the fact it brings people together. So I'm still following it a bit, to share everyone's excitement : )**

* * *

 **Chapter 14 : Time to work together ?**

* * *

A look to the ones in the room I just entered informed me we had been split in two : a large half of the guests were missing, probably in another room and with some other guards since only 8 were here.

Kudô wasn't with us. In fact, there was no child and barely any woman in here. Mostly men, all looking ... It took me a long second to spot our common point. The size.

We had been sorted by size and that probably meant I was in the room of the "possible candidates for being Kid". Those men were clearly not stupid. They knew he was hidden among the guests since they sealed all the entries and probably estimated his size thanks to the scene and the mikes on it. As gifted as that Thief was, the height was the only thing he couldn't mess much with.

To be honest, I'd have preferred to end with idiots. Idiots with guns are always a bit instable but not as tricky as an intelligent criminal group, or at least an intelligent leader.

I had a thought for my best friend, hoping he had been able to escape this mess. With his small size and his smart brain, he perhaps had been able to sneak elsewhere ? Well, even if he had been caught and put with the other guests, I guessed he was safe. The men were wearing hoods and had kept them even after they got the control. Meaning that they weren't here to kill. They were minding about the witnesses and that meant they'd keep them alive. Probably...

I was frowning, trying to hush my dark thoughts, chin in my hand, when I felt something hit my shoulder.

"- Hey."

I jumped around, ready to fight for my life, to recognize Todoki.

"- Sorry, I didn't want to scare you..." He whispered with embarrass at my face.

"- It's ok... Where have ya been ? I didn' see ya when all this began...

\- I was in the kitchen to refill my plate but... Some of those guys entered and kicked us out before sorting us...

\- Yea, they're lookin' fer the Kid, I'm sure o' it... Even if they stole everyone's wallets an' jewellery, I'm sure they wouldn' get a tenth o' that necklace value... No way they'd give up.

\- So we're being suspected from being that Thief ?"

I turned to him, sure to have heard a pinch of amusement in his voice. Jeez, this was no game, those guys were pro and we were in real trouble.

"- I wouldn' find that whole situation that fun if I were ya, Todoki..."

"- Ok, let's get straight to the point..." The leader's voice echoed in the room, now that everyone fitting their sorting was here and the door closed. "The Kaitou Kid is very probably among you. For everyone's sake, Kid, would you like to step forwards ?"

A heavy silence settled into the room and I took the opportunity to look at the ones with us, trying to see any sign of the Thief.

Most faces were under shock, contrasting with the bright colours on the jackets of most. I counted at least two injured, with one being helped by his neighbour to stand. Damn bastards... With a closer look, the second one I thought was hurt had perhaps just paint on his face, bright red, just like the one on my shirt. Among the ones I could recognize, I spotted only Tanioka. Kasai and the other cops - the ones remaining... - were nowhere in sight, probably locked somewhere else.

Sahashi-han was still standing near of me, even if now Todoki was the closest. He also looked quite calm, seeing the situation. Apparently, not only the face was Kudô-like, the self-control was of the same kind too...

"-... so we'd like you to cooperate. We'll search you. Nothing big. You may lack one or two personal belongings afterwards but, if everyone behaves, there won't be any violence, clear ?"

Not as if we really had the choice...

And everyone knew it, no one really tried to stop them when they started to empty their jackets and bags, putting the wallets and the jewellery aside, quickly palpating the trousers and the necks of the guests.

I had myself a very minimal search : being in working clothes, all my belongings were in my locker and they knew it. I feared a second for my Detective's Boy badge, wishing with all my heart Kudô wouldn't chose that one moment to try to contact me, but he didn't and they didn't notice it or ignored it if they did. I was also lucky they didn't look at faces too closely, knowing the foundation on my skin would be visible to anyone staring a bit too long at me, and I didn't want to have to explain that...

Fifteen minutes later, the men were clearly empty-handed, I could see it on their faces. Well, way of speaking seeing the bag full of fatty wallets and shining jewellery. The guests were here to spend cash, in the name of the Charity. There even was a huge glass jar they planned to fill in the closing ceremony with the bills gathered during the party. Much more impressive than a bunch of zeros on a bank account, right ? But that would have been safer, seeing what was happening...

I bet the exact same thing was happening in the other room. But there would be a difference in ours, question was still to know which...

I saw the leader take his talkie out, talking with the one on the other side with a low voice, not looking really happy. Yea, _good_ news incoming... We'd soon know if those guys were real bad guys.

"- Ok, since apparently the Kid isn't disguised as a cop and no entries have been forced, we just got the confirmation the Kaitou Kid is among you. Remember I tried the easy way. But now..."

I gulped when I saw him taking his gun out.

"...It'll get less funny. "

Two of his men grabbed a woman on his nod and one pointed his weapon at her temple.

"- We'll kill one of you every two minutes. Hope you're ready to have those deaths on your conscience." The man said again, ignoring the girl's cries and starting to pass among us, playing with his gun under the nose of each guest.

Seeing the woman was shaking and crying, I couldn't stand it anymore and stepped towards the guy. I knew that, with my suspicious look, I shouldn't be standing out but this was mad, I had to stop them. Or at least try to reason them

"- Stop yer bullshit, ya're not goin' ta kill fifteen persons...

\- For several hundred of millions yens ? I will." The leader retorted, without even hesitating, as he came close to me and put his gun under my face. "But if you're the Kid or if you know who he is, just spit it and I won't have to perform such a bloodbath...

\- The guy is probably miles away..." I retorted with a bored look.

"- Really ?"

I sweat-dropped when the man came closer, passing a finger on my face. With the stress and the heat in the room, I knew I had been sweating and... Yea, clearly, Kudô had still to learn from his mother about makeup...

"- I'd say he might not be "miles" away. "Centimetres" away might be true though... Where's the sapphire, Kid ?

\- Ya don' have the right guy.

\- I bet that's what the true Kid would say. And that kansei-ben... A bit too exaggerated for the role but it's perfect, you can feel the hours of training.

\- That's my native language, ahou !"

I knew I was perhaps going too far and it turned to be true when, too focused on his gun, I didn't notice his other hand before it slammed my cheek.

"- I'm not sure it's pretty good for your health to insult someone with a gun... Why the foundation if you're not the Kid ?"

I rubbed the corner of my mouth, feeling the hit still echoing in my jaw, my lip probably broken. I had an explanation but it wasn't for him or anyone in the room to know. And he was pretty much starting to piss me off. A smirk appeared on my face.

"- I like lookin' at my best in mundane parties..."

The man had a nasty smile, perfectly aware of the fact I was just messing with him.

"- Ok guys, I think we got something here. Get everyone else out of here and put them with the others. Grab the bag too..." He said, with a sign of the head towards the bag filled with stolen goods. "Breaker, Blue, you stay with me."

I had still my eyes in the leader's but I could hear at the footsteps the order was being followed. Good. Less potential victims could only be good and that would give me free reins if I tried anything.

Though I was a bit concerned for Sahashi-han, not really wanting him to end alone in a room with the one who tried to kill him, since he was very probably back among the guests.

Well, I guess I should worry about something else right now. Something like my own health.

"- Hey, what are you doing ? Hurry to go with them !

\- Ah, sorry, my lace..."

Leaving my opponent from the eyes a second, I turned my head, to see Todoki was kneeling on the floor, his hands on his left shoe.

"- But that'd be a pity for me to leave, since I'm the one you're looking for." He said as he got up with a smirk, coming closer to me.

I didn't know what he was trying to do but it was stupid.

"- Oy, stop with the nonsense, Todoki, those guys are dangerous.

\- I know." He said, his hand on my shoulder to force me to step back, putting himself between the criminals and me.

I looked at him, wanting to try to reason him again, I didn't want him to get killed... But my words got lost when I saw his face from the side.

The guy was smiling. And that smile...

Holy crap.

Todoki Kai. Kaito(u) Ki(d)do. Kaitou Kid. That Kudô-like was the Kid !

His smile got a little wider when he noticed I understood, I guess he could see it at my face. I tried to bring back some composure in my expression, not wanting them to guess who the real one was, not yet.

But still... I bet he knew who he was dealing with as soon as we met in the lockers' room, that would explain why he used such an easy anagram, he was just playing with me ! I bet it made him laugh to see me being all friendly with him, totally missing the fact he was an international Thief.

I perhaps would have gotten upset about my wounded pride but not today, not with three guys with guns facing us.

Those guys were also looking at... the Kid, a bit startled, hesitating in what to do.

Though their leader didn't hesitate much.

"- I'm moved to see such a friendship, girls, but there's only one Kid and one necklace. So one of you is extra luggage...

\- It can't be him, look at how poor is his disguise, even you lot saw through it..."

Oh, so nice of you, Kaitou Kid...

"... when mine is perfect. So let him go and I'll tell you where I hid the Sapphire.

\- You're the funny one... Nah, let's do this. He stays with us. We'll be nice with him if you're nice with us. But if your memory fails... He'll pay the price."

Todoki... Nah, Kid looked at me from the corner of his eyes, apparently a bit concerned for me to be dragged in that mess but I just shrugged.

They had the lead for the moment, we had no choice but to obey. And to try to seize any opportunity they'd give us to get free and neutralize them. Two against three would be easier than alone.

"- Let's go to the main room then..."

After a short walk, the Thief first, me behind him, a guy on each side and the last one behind us, ready to shoot us if he spotted any funny move, we were back into the party's room.

"- I'll need to sneak under the scene...

\- Ok..." The boss agreed, though I could see he was suspicious. "Don't forget, one step aside and I can't guarantee his life anymore...

The guy felt the need to stick his gun against my ribs in a cliché menace so I rolled discreetly my eyes to indicate to the Kid I was good. And ready for any plan he'd come with.

Three or four long minutes later, I could feel the leader was starting to get impatient. And indeed...

"- Hey, my trigger finger is starting to itch, brat...

\- I'm coming !" Kid's muffled voice answered from under the scene.

Hearing him getting closer, I tensed, clenching my teeth, sure the Thief was coming back with a plan else it wouldn't have taken that long.

But I wasn't expecting this and my heart missed a beat when the greatest mess started.


	16. Chapter 15 - Cooperation

**Heya !**

 **And here comes a bit more of our three boys coop : )**

 **And perhaps some answers starting to come ? Or not... We'll see ! ~**

 **o.O.o**

 **emmahosi : Yea, I did watch football with my brother and father, but I kind of stopped... Some around me do but they're too much into it ^^;; Hey, nah, this story won't finish at chapter 14 and 15 neither xD I'll be going til chapter 19 + epilogue so some more to go : ) Hmm, Kaito was ready to move but he was waiting for the right moment... He can be pretty fast, right ? ^^ Haha, yea, the idea of a combi Kaito & Heiji against Shin or Saguru is just... They'd be terrific xD As to kicking bad guys' butts, they'd be great also I think... That's just 'if's though, I can't picture Gosho imagining that combi, not even the anime editors... We'll have to imagine it ! : )**

* * *

 **Chapter 15 : Cooperation**

* * *

I was expecting the attack to start from under the scene but the man not far away from my side grunted when he ended with a small spotlight in the face and fell, unconscious, on the floor. That flying object was clearly not coming from the Kid but I was sure it was a certain pint-sized detective I knew had something to do with it...

In the same second or almost, the man who was near of the scene, ready to "welcome" the Thief, stepped back, frowning his nose, before his legs crumbled under his weight.

Seeing the man was rolling on the floor, smelling something strange in the air, I knew the Kid had used one of his sleeping bombs so I held my breath as I could.

"- The hell ?! " The leader ranted, bringing his hand on his mouth, guessing, probably too late, that smell had everything to do with his man fainting.

Feeling it was time to act, I grabbed the man's hand, forcing it over our heads, not wanting his gun to stay anymore between us.

With the surprise – and probably the gas, the man reacted but once again too late, pushing the trigger but hitting nothing else than the ceiling, now that I was holding him. After a short fight, I managed to throw him on the floor and to punch him in the face, knocking him out.

But I probably breathed some gas since I didn't manage to get up and had to let myself fall on my bottom, my head spinning.

"- Hattori !" I heard Kudô yell, a bit short breathed as he arrived near me.

"- I'm good, I'm good… But ya shouldn' stay here, Kid threw some sleepin' gas…"

A hand on my shoulder made me notice the said Kid was just by my side, holding some kind of tube to me.

"- Here, breathe that, you'll feel better."

I gratefully grabbed the tube to put it under my noise and literally jerked away at the smell.

"- Oy, what's that ?!

\- Something efficient. Breathe it at least ten second. And give it to Tantei-kun after that.

\- Ya're goin' ta love it…" I smirked at my best friend when I gave him the tube after a few seconds.

The frown on his face told me he indeed liked it as much as I did but, well, the thing was quite efficient, seeing I wasn't feeling drowsy anymore.

Finally able to get up, I got on my feet, wincing a bit, and detailed the teen near me. He fooled me as if I was a total newbie and he knew it, seeing the satisfied smirk on his face.

"- Todoki Kai… I can' believe I missed somethin' that simple…

\- It indeed took you quite a while to figure such an easy alias, Tantei-han…" He smiled, before turning around to look at Kudô. "Still have my gift with you, Tantei-kun ?

\- Your "gift" belongs to someone and I intend to give it back to her…"

It was fun to see my best friend's dark glare directed at someone else than me but the Kid totally ignored it, as if used to it. Those two had a past, I tell you !

"- Haha, well, seeing how this heist is now messed up… I'll leave it in your hands. I'll still be able to steal it to that charming lady later !

\- You wish...

\- But how did ya end with that necklace …? An' how did ya find us ?" I interrupted them, now that I was totally awake and noticed there was a bunch of unexplained things in the scene playing in front of me.

"- Pure chance...

\- I gave it to him when I saw he was sneaking under the scene not to get caught by those guys..." The Thief explained before getting a rope out of nowhere and tying the three criminals with it.

"- Ah, I should have known it… See, it's great bein' a first grader, ya can fit everywhere !" I said with a wink to my best friend.

Uhh, the dark glare was for me this time...

"- I found you thanks to your badge." Kudô finally explained after a long sigh. "I tried to go out to warn the police but all the entries were being watched so, when I saw on my glasses you were coming back here, I hid once again under the stage.

\- Simple but efficient... What do we do o' them ? We roll them under the scene ?" I asked with a sign of the chin towards the three the Kid just finished to tie.

"- Why not."

Kudô emptied their pockets while we were hiding them under the black curtain hiding the scene's metallic structure.

"- I'll be taking a talkie... And a gun. What do you want ? They got some other guns and knives with them...

\- Knife fer me then..." I answered. No way I was going to take a gun unless I was forced to. I really hated those.

"- As to me... I'll do better with this !" The Thief said after rumbling a little while under the scene, retrieving his white jacket from there. "What's our next step, detectives ?

\- 'Our' ?" Kudô snorted with irony.

"- I'd like to play a prank or two to those men... They did spoil my magic show !

\- So Thief against thieves ?

\- Maa, what's better than a Thief to catch another thief ?" I intervened when I saw my best friend was in a taunting mood, as if he didn't want to use all the strengths we could against those guys when we hadn't much choice.

In my opinion, we clearly needed his help… It could have turned nasty for me if he didn't turn himself in earlier... And I had to admit I had fun with "Todoki Kai" earlier during the party.

"- An' seein' how many they are, this won' be a luxury...

\- How many are they by the way ? I think I spotted something like thirteen of them ? Eleven here and two guarding the entrance.

\- Counted twelve here.

\- So let's say 14 overall ? Minus three so eleven?" The Kid proposed.

"- Still too many... We need to separate them and lure them by small packs... Still got sleeping gas, Kid ?

\- Pretty much..." He smiled, taping his pockets with a malicious smile. "Time to call them ?"

o.O.o

With two voice changers - a natural one and gadget-assisted one, a magician armed with sleeping bomb, a kick-everything-at-speed-light chibi and my modest self, we quickly added three others of those thieves under the stage.

Eight left. The trickiest ones since they were guarding the hostages and we couldn't call some anymore, that would start to be suspicious...

"- Oy Kid, feel like disguisin' like one o' those guys ?" I said with a sign of the head towards the scene. "If ya pass as one o' the last team who came an' tell them we escaped, ya should be able ta lure most o' them out o' the hostage room...

\- Hope this one doesn't stink too much..." The Thief wished, his eyes on the closest man to him.

He had been quick to change and trained a second his voice to match the one we barely heard a second in a surprised cry before we neutralized him. That guy was good...

"- Ready !

\- Let's go then." Kudô proposed before stepping towards the direction the last guys came from.

We did our best to move silently and after a few meters reached a door, luckily not getting noticed by the two guards in front of it, since we hid quickly around the corner. But the presence of those men indicated we were at the right place.

"- Guys, according to the plans we looked at earlier, there's another way out of this room. One pretty close to a safety issue...

\- We got our hostages' way out then...

\- They probably won't all leave to look for "us" but I can sneak as a guard into the room if I pretend I'm hurt. So I'll be able to neutralize one or two...

\- Should do... We'll knock at the door ta signify we're here an' ready on the other side."

We nodded at each other, agreeing with that plan, and scattered to put it into action. I had one last look at the Kid, his hood one the face, already in his role and holding his arm with pain, limping more than walking towards the two guards, as if he had been dragged in a fight he was far from having won.

Not bad… At all. But now wasn't the time to be impressed : we also had our mission.

With Kudô, we both sneaked further in the hallways, flattening against the wall at each corner not to be spotted. With the ones we knocked down and most of the others in the room with the hostages, we had very few chances to come across someone but that was a risk we couldn't take.

And, at last, we were just at the last corner before the safety issue we were looking for. Kudô held his arm in front of my legs, his finger on his lips : there was indeed someone to guard the door but, according to his gesture, the man was alone.

"- Wanna play the lost child ?" I whispered in his ear, a smirk on my face.

He rolled his eyes with annoy, before whispering back :"If I could, even for one hour, switch our roles, you'd be having the hardest time of your life…"

But that wasn't going to happen any soon, he knew it, so he nevertheless stepped towards the guard, an innocent but worried expression on the face, while I was discreetly looking at him from behind my corner.

"- Mister, could you help me …? I can't find my mommy…"

The guy jumped when he saw him but quickly got his composure back.

Why would that man worry ? He was just facing a child and bringing him back to his "mommy" would kill two birds with a stone. Well, that's what I imagined he'd think, hoping he'd take easily he bait.

"- Don't worry, boya, I'll call someone to bring you to your mother, ok ?" He said, trying to have a comforting voice, before taking his talkie out. "Hey guys, I got a child in the hallways, can anyone drop in and take him with the others ?

\- Can't, our two… special guests have escaped, this is more important that a kid… Bring him back yourself, won't be long…

\- Crap…"

I almost snorted at the face full of hope from my little friend and the man's sigh.

"- Ok, I'll take you then. Let's go, boya !"

I stepped back for them not to see me and, when Kudô passed in front of me with a wink, I jumped in front of the man to slam my fist hard in his stomach, finishing him with an atemi against the back of his neck.

"- Let's hide him…" The boy said, looking around suspiciously despite the fact we had been silent and quick.

I dragged him in an empty corridor, not one of the main ones, while my friend checked the safety issue.

"- it doesn't look locked, we should be able to get out from here. But we'll trigger the alarm.

\- Don' have much choice… An' it'll be too late fer them.

\- Let's hope, yea… Ok, let's go to the hostage room's back door."

A few minutes later, I was knocking at the door just as we planned it.

"- What's that ?" A muffled voice asked from the other side, a voice I recognized to be the one of the man the Kid was impersonating.

"- Probably Scar with the child… But I thought the door was open ?"

A noise of footsteps informed me the guy was walking towards us and I was ready to welcome him. I threw my hand in his pretty surprised face as he opened the door and finished him with a hit of the knee in his stomach.

Similar pained grunts at the other side of the room informed me the Kid had just done the same with another guard.

I looked around, ready to fight anyone who could be left among the hostages but they were only three, the Thief included, the other were probably looking for us.

The Kid silently locked the main door and nodded when he was done, giving us the signal.

"- Ok, everyone out ! An' help the wounded !

\- This way !" Conan added, showing them the right corridor with the hand. "And someone tell the police they can enter through here !"

After a startled second, the guests got up, hope on their faces, and started to leave through the way we just opened for them.

The alarm soon echoed through the building, indicating the first escapees were out but also meaning we were going to start the longest minutes, the ones during which the criminals could come back while the hostages weren't all out.

I looked at the ones remaining in the room, spotting Sahashi-han and seeing with relief the man was alright, watching over Tanioka-kun, pushing him towards the exit while he was staying behind.

But that "alright" may not last long, I deplored it when I heard the first hits against the door. Barely two third of the guests were out and the guys were already back, having probably guessed they had been tricked.

I had hoped we'd have a bit more time, even with the alarm… I came closer to the author, ready to protect him. As to the Kid, he came closer to the door, with some of his little bombs in the hand.

"- Faster guys !" I asked them with a tense voice when I noticed the flow of guests was stopping.

Turning my head to that side since no one moved despite my demand, I finally understood what was blocking them.

A bunch of men of the special intervention forces were entering the room silently, we were going to fight them on par, at last !

But that was the exact moment the door behind us broke, to open on five pretty angry-looking men. And we were just in the middle.

"- On the floor ! " The Kid yelled, having also noticed this wasn't presaging anything good.

We ducked and, when the shootout calmed down, all rushed out, helped by the cops.

And just when I thought it was over, when we finally reached the outside, I had to grab Sahashi-han's vest to bring him back in, having spotted something shining under the streetlights, but, despite how quick I had been, that didn't stop a bullet to scratch his arm.

"- Crap… Stay inside !" I ordered, before rushing outside, looking for the shooter.

To see there wasn't anyone in sight.

Swearing for myself, I came back to the author with a disappointed face.

"- It appears you saved my life more than once tonight, young man…

\- But I couldn' stop that guy, so I don' think this will end…

\- You seem to have known something would happen tonight…

\- I had a hunch…" I vaguely answered, not wanting to speak about that in the middle of the streets, with all these witnesses. " As ta ya, ya don' look pretty much surprised ta be targeted…"

Holding his wounded arm against him, the man was far from being stupid and nodded.

"- Maybe we could talk about it ? I'd gladly welcome you at home, mister …?

\- Hattori Heiji."

The author squinted at me, he clearly knew the name.

"- Meet you there, tomorrow morning. Let's say at 10 ?

\- Perfect." I accepted, grabbing the card he was holding to me.

"- See you tomorrow then."

Sahashi-han walked away, leaving me here with his card in the hand.

I had to be patient. I'd have my answers tomorrow.


	17. Chapter 16 - Failed

**Hey !**

 **So, let's head to the last 'part' of this fic... Time to discover who's behind all this ! :D**

 **o.O.o**

 **emmahoshi : Haha, even in the manga, Heiji makes so much fun of Shin it would only be fair him to be turned as a chibi and have Shinichi mocking him xD Oh yea, the author had good reason to think he could be targeted, seeing the subject of his book... ^^ Eh, sorry, I could have gone on and on after what I decided was the end of this fic (and reach the "famous" 28 chapters xD) but I felt like ending it there. Author's whim : )**

* * *

 **Chapter 16 : Failed**

* * *

The next morning, on Sunday, after a short trip by train, we were walking towards the address given by the author. Yea, "we". The four of us...

Needless to say we had been welcomed quite coolly the previous night. The girls, when they noticed we were missing, had been switching the TV on to have some news about the heist, knowing we would be here despite our - yea ok, totally fake - disappointed faces when we told them there was no way to get in if we weren't VIPs.

When we came back, I exchanged a look with Kudô when we spotted them near the entrance, fists on their hips and hard expressions on their faces. Oh, yea, we both knew we were doomed, there was the same light of panic in our eyes.

And indeed, we had been scolded quite a while once they all - Kazuha, Neechan and Okan - made sure we were safe and sound.

They apparently didn't appreciate to find out we were in the middle of a hostage taking, that I understood, since Kazuha yelled it several times, with a different tone each time, from worried to angry, though angry was the one she used the most.

Using the heist as an excuse, I managed to avoid talking about Kasai and what I thought was a murder attempt he organized against Sahashi-han.

One or two hours discussing helped, since everyone started to be tired and, now that they saw we had learnt our lesson, the girls started to calm down.

But we had been under close surveillance the following morning so, when we wanted to leave, at half past nine, no way we could have been able to get rid of them. We nevertheless tried, not knowing what we'd find there but, after a few failed attempts, seeing we were starting to be late, we gave up and agreed them to come with us.

It should be safe… Seeing the many tries last night, our guy clearly wanted to kill Sahashi-han back there, probably meaning he didn't know where else he'd be able to find the author. Well. That's why I hoped.

Because I honestly could think about other explanations for this behaviour. And none presaged any good for the old man's safety. Or even for the girls if we ended in something unexpected...

"- Why again did ya say he agreed ta see us ?"

Leaving my dark thoughts aside, I focused on Kazuha and her question.

"- I kind o' saved his life last night...

\- See ? Ya were indeed doin' dangerous things last night...

\- Maa, Kazuha-chan, I think we already made our point about that subject last night..." Neechan softly laughed after she looked at me.

I had a grateful smile towards Kudô's girl, glad she noticed my low shoulders at the idea of being scolded. Again.

"- I still can' believe we're goin' ta meet THE Sahashi-han... Is he famous in Tokyo too, Ran-chan ?

\- Hmm... His name rings a bell but... I'm not sure why, sorry.

\- I heard about him !" Kudô observed, his childish act "on". "His last book about politics is really famous, apparently one or two persons had to leave the Diet because of the accusations he did against them, it was quite the outrage...

\- Didn't some people got angry after him ?

\- Haha, a lot were already..." I laughed at Neechan's comment. "The guy always loved polemical subjects...

\- Yea, that's why he's so secretive, he kind o' hides himself. Barely a handful o' people have been able ta see him lately, so visitin' his home is quite the honour... I'm surprised his home is in Osaka, by the way...

\- He's supposed to come from Kyoto, right ?" Kudô pointed out. "That's what's written on his books' preface...

\- Well, it's a great way ta cover his tracks then... His fans an' his enemies will look fer him in Kyoto while he's here in Osaka, nicely thought in my opinion..."

I stopped and raised my head to see the plate on the nearby gate was displaying the number I was looking for.

"- Ah, here we are !"

Rising my hand to ring the bell, I couldn't stop myself noticing this was quite the nice traditional gate, implying an assorted house was behind it. Apparently, author was a career that could bring its bunch of money.

"- Strange, I'm sure I heard it rang inside..." Kazuha wondered after a few minutes and still no one to open to us.

Before I could even try to tiptoe to have a glimpse over the gate, my little friend pushed it, forcing it open without any real effort.

I looked at him, not really at ease, knowing such a maniac about safety wouldn't let his door unlocked. So the fact we could open it so easily was clearly presaging nothing good and we were starting to have to envisage those disagreeable "other explanations" I refused to think about earlier : a culprit who knew Sahashi-han's address.

"- Ok, we're goin' ta go in, just wait fer us outside...

\- Ya wish... No way we'd let ya two alone in, Heiji, we're comin'."

My eyes in Kazuha's, I knew I wouldn't be able to convince her otherwise. This was so frustrating. I knew it could be dangerous but I had to see what happened inside. And quick. I had no time to discuss with her, she could be so stubborn sometimes...

"- Tsk... Stay behind me then." I gave up with annoy in my tone.

We were walking with caution but I was wondering if it was really useful. There weren't any extra shoes in the entrance and the place seemed empty. And calm. The kind of calm I didn't really appreciate, the dead calm kind.

And indeed, when I entered what was probably the author's room, I understood why.

"- Kazuha, call the police. Neechan, ya go with her, ya don' wanna see this..." I quickly ordered, my eyes focused on what was in front of me.

"- But the culprit could..." The female Tokyoite wanted to point out, though she stopped quite fast when her eyes fell on the body, barely refraining from screaming.

"- It's been at least six hours he's dead, the culprit left ages ago..." Kudô observed, his little hand already on the man's carotid artery.

"- I'll... wait with Kazuha then..." She said after a gulp, turning her heels.

"- Crap, we're too late, Kudô..." I swore, clenching my teeth with bitterness.

That man I had spent the whole night protecting, the one supposed to give me answers as to why the one who killed Oyaji was after him, was here, lifeless, at my feet.

The room - and the house in fact - was incredibly tidy, so either the culprit had been extremely silent or he knew the author and came in as a guest. I was in favour of that second possibility : living myself in a traditional house, I knew it was almost impossible to walk in without hearing the wood cracking under your feet... The man had been stabbed in the lower ribcage but the hit had been directed upwards and the blade probably touched the heart, according to the pool of blood under the old man's body.

"- Don't despair yet, Hattori, he left us with something..."

I watched my best friend with hope, noticing he was taking his handkerchief out to grab a paper slightly sticking out of Sahashi-han's hand.

Still not touching it, he unwrapped it with care, revealing a message.

And then, at last, I could breathe. This wasn't a dead end yet. During his last moment, the author had found a way to relay a message to me. That note, on which my name was written and below it a website address and a login and its associated password, had to be something important.

"- Looks like he left some answers behind him, Hattori..." My best friend smiled before pocketing the paper.

"- Oy, we need ta leave that ta the police !

\- You sure ? Hattori... First, I don't think we should trust the police too much right now, above all in Osaka. That paper could easily get _lost_ , if you see what I mean. And second, your name is on that paper. And you just found this body. You sure you want to spend some precious hours in the police station instead of investigating this website ?"

I grimaced, totally agreeing with my friend. I hadn't really thought about it but, if anyone wanting me to stop that investigation got that paper, this could turn to be pretty annoying. And as much as I wasn't really fond of school, I still preferred it over a cell...

"- The police just parked in front of the house." Neechan warned us as she came in.

"- Ok, thanks !" I said with a smile, before crouching near of Kudô and whisper with a low voice. "Ok, let's look at this when we're back..."

o.O.o

Even without anyone suspecting us, we had to spend a long time at the police station to leave our testimony. Needless to say it was pretty hard for me to stand that long wait, eager as I was to have a look at that website. Kudô had even to nudge me once or twice, to force me to keep a straight face.

I had to explain several times how I had been able to have a rendezvous with someone that famous... I absolutely couldn't mention the previous night's party since I wasn't supposed to have been there but me and my big mouth managed to convince them I helped him in the street and he invited me as a thank for that day.

But that had been LONG.

And once again, that had been long to eat lunch with everyone, with my mother sighing when she learnt I got myself into another case, though she sounded slightly amused. Well, I always had that kind of bad luck, and that wouldn't be such a hinder to have some bodies spotting randomly around me as a private, right ? Though, I was nowhere close to Kudô's "luck" in that matter, with bodies literally raining over him...

"- Conan-kun, don't forget we have our train at 9 !" Neechan reminded my friend when she saw we were leaving the table and heading towards my room.

"- Haaai !"

Yea, until dinner to try to decipher what Sahashi-han left behind him. While Kudô closed the door, I rushed towards my computer and impatiently waited for it to light up, my fingers drumming on my desk.

"- Oy, easy Hattori, it's been hours already, staring at your computer won't force it to start any quicker...

\- Sorry..." I apologized, stopping my hand. "Paper please ?"

I had to type the address twice, my fingers not able to go as fast as my brain wanted them too, and finally there it was.

"- His next book ?" I frowned, when I recognized the kind of frame it was.

"- Apparently... Could you sent that file to me ?"

I kept a copy for me and gave another for my best friend to put it on his phone, before we both started reading.

And after one hour, Kudô's verdict fell, without appeal.

"- Hattori... It's the BO. That paper we're reading is about the Organization. The alcohols' names have been changed to animals' names but else..."

My best friend had just been voicing loud what I was starting to figure by myself. This sounded so much like the Organization he had been fighting against... But that was...

"- Crap... But if that's Them, it means... They were the ones wantin' ta kill Sahashi-han ta silence him an' stop him before he publishes his book ? But that'd mean that... Kasai is with them ?!

\- And, by extension, that They're the ones who ordered your father's murder to give him his position. And who got Saijô out. And kidnapped Tanioka's son to have Kyoto's Superintendent General to work for them.

\- Hell..."

I didn't need to see my reflection, I knew my face was as white as a sheet and I could tell you this didn't happen often, seeing my dark carnation...

"- Ya think we could get anythin' out o' that book ? Saw somethin' that could help ta arrest them ? Or at least compromise Kasai ?

\- I didn't see anything I didn't know yet but I'm far from being finished with the reading...

\- The question also is... How did They hear about it ? That paper isn' even out !

\- Yea, that's quite the mystery... And the only one who could have told us is lying cold in a morgue... Hattori, this is so big...

\- I'm not plannin' ta give up, if that's what ya're tryin' ta say." I firmly declared, my eyes in my best friend's, stubborn as never. The hell I'd stop my investigation, even knowing it was the BO. "Those guys, they...

\- I'm just saying we're going to need to take it easy... and slow.

\- Ok, what's next then ?

\- Find out who had access to that book. And since Sahashi-san's editor is in Kyoto, I think it's time to call _him_..."

I looked at Kudô, wondering who that 'him' was, before noticing his imperceptible smirk.

Oh no no no...

"- I'm not goin' ta ask help ta that chipmunk-dumbass.

\- The name's Ayanokoji-keibu, Hattori. And remember you wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for him...

\- ... I know... But that's visceral...

\- I know, I know..." Kudô said, nevertheless throwing his phone at me. "But I already got involved too much in front of him in order to save you so I can't do that anymore. "

My glare at him was dark but I knew I had no choice and the smirk on my best friend's face was clearly showing he knew it too.

"- I hate ya, sometimes...

\- You're welcome..."


	18. Chapter 17 - Ambush

**Heya !**

 **Eh, well only 2 chapters remaining after this one (+the epilogue)... this went fast once again ; )**

 **Let's go for some action ! :D**

 **o.O.o**

 **emmahoshi : Haha, well, I liked the idea of the BO being involved, though it'll be quite a mess for our boys ; ) Hmm the guys had a rough night and the rendez-vous was at 10 so yea, they left late xD Eh, agree, I think authors and artists in general don't get paid enough for their hard work^^;;; We pay so many taxes in France for 'artists' and 'creativity' but in fact we're just paying some big companies who then pocket as much as possible for themselves, not giving anything to the real artist, such a pity... Hmm they could have used their phones but, with such a serious subject, the connexion is safer on a computer...** **Phones are so easy to spy... ^^;;** **And reading a whole book on a phone screen would hurt the eyes, right ? (poor Conan xD) Haha, nah, no worries, there wasn't much typo in your reviews : ) Not more than when your laptop's keys are malfunctioning xD And you'll see for the end !~**

* * *

 **Chapter 17 : Ambush**

* * *

"- So you're saying that... This Sahashi-san had discovered something about a secret criminal organization and wrote it all in his book ? And that that organization, discovering somehow what the content of this book was, tried to kill him during that party and finished the work early this morning since you hindered them last night ? And that the whole thing could be related to the Superintendent General Hattori's death ?"

That was fun how, in his mouth, my story, though absolutely true, sounded like some kind of fairy tale out of a paranoid mind... At his tone, I could so much picture his face, with his cold and neutral expression, calm facade to hide his disbelief in my story…

Ok, I had to remove some serious chunks of it and that made it even more unstable but accusing Kasai wouldn't help me to get the policeman's trust, clearly.

"- Yea, I know, it sounds crazy but..."

I threw a dark look at Kudô. I knew this was coming, I knew it from the second I picked up his phone !

"- Try to be more convincing ! " He whispered, unable to refrain from smirking when he spotted my expression.

The other side of the line still remaining silent, I finally decided to play the cord of his pride as an inspector.

"- Come on, I bet they didn' even contact ya ta help them in the investigation despite the fact this guy is from Kyoto, him an' all his relatives. Ya can't say it's not fishy… It's more than just murder."

Another silence was my only answer, and I was starting to think about giving up, this idea had been crazy from the beginning...

"- Mori Taeko. This is his editor's name. I'm texting you her phone number."

I almost let my phone go with the surprise. What could have been able to convince him ? Clearly not my clumsy blathering…

But I was too happy to have that information to ask any further question, not yet.

"- But one thing Hattori-kun… I don't want to hear the single complaint about you. And if there's anyone to question, that'll be under police surveillance. Mine, to be more precise.

\- Haaaai " I docilely answered, feeling, for once, in the exact same situation than my reduced best friend, a kid knowing someone was doing him a favour and knowing he should be thankful about it…

"- And I'll be expecting to hear from you."

Those were his last words before he hung up, leaving me, still startled, staring at my phone a long moment, before noticing the promised contact information was indeed coming.

"- So ?

\- Well… He gave me the intel about the editor…

\- Hey, see, I told you !

\- I don' understand… This guy has always been treatin' me as a child playin' detective, why is he acknowledgin' me now, all o' a sudden ?

\- Think he's suspecting something about that case ? "

I took my chin in my hand to give it a thought. The man should have been the one interrogating the prisoners from that organization he arrested two weeks ago. Perhaps something did catch his attention ?

But that would be a lot of 'if'… So I just shrugged.

"- Maa, never mind, at least, we're able ta move forwards."

o.O.o

The next half hour had been dedicated to calling the editor.

After the tiniest innuendo about the fact I could be someone from the police – ok, let's say I didn't contradict her when she wondered if I was a policeman and yea, I knew Ayanokoji was going to kill me if he ever heard about that after he helped me for the first time…, I had been able to get some information.

The author was someone really secretive, there was no real surprise about that, seeing how the man had been locking himself in his house. But, on the contrary, it meant that he tended to be extremely talkative with the few selected ones he kept contact with, starting with his editor. The affection was reciprocal and the woman's emotion after that loss was quite palpable in her voice.

She knew, from her long discussions with Sahashi-han, who could had been able to have access to the draft of the book and she was sure there wouldn't be anyone else, knowing he'd never use the web to transfer it – I remained silent about the fact that we had been able to see that book on a website, conscious now of how much the man wanted us to be able to read it. The list of the ones who had seen the hard copy or would have been able to was pretty short, I could count them on the fingers of one hand…

Once I got that list, my primary purpose after all, I nevertheless took the opportunity to have some information about the book. The editor didn't know where he had been able to get such intel but she guessed it had been during his researches for his previous book, about Japan's political dysfunction, because one night she had seen him coming back home, an excited smile on the face. And she knew him well enough to recognize his "I found something interesting enough for my next book"-face.

But she was wondering if that book he dedicated so much energy into would be published one day. Voluntary or not, the author's personal computer had been destroyed, probably by his murderer, and the hard copy was nowhere to be found. She herself had one exemplary, probably the only one remaining, but she need the agreement of his legatee to do anything with it so it would be his choice, whoever it was.

As to the murder, she admitted she knew Sahashi-han had asked his house staff not to come, but she wasn't really surprised, that was the kind of things he could do when he wanted to see some important guests or even sometimes just to enjoy some solitude. But yea, no use hiding it, the man had enemies, more than she could count, but none was supposed to have his postal address…

Since I had nothing to ask anymore and she hadn't anything to add, the conversation ended and Kudô and I were now looking at the paper in front of me, the one on which I had written the names she gave me.

Four persons. Only one name was familiar among them, Tanioka's but well, I was expecting to see it, the son having hinted the two men were close friends.

The man was in jail, so there weren't many chances for him to talk about the book anymore. But perhaps he did mention it earlier… Or to the ones who kidnapped his son even ? It would be worth asking the former Superintendent General if he let any information leak.

"- All in Kyoto, eh ?" I sighed when my eyes finished looking through the addresses.

"- Time to call your best pal again !

\- I'd appreciate if ya could have the slightest bit o' dedicacy an' stop mockin' me everytime I'm forced ta call this man. This _isn'_ fun.

\- Haha, sorry…" He finally apologized, trying to have a straight face – not really a success, if you wanted my opinion. Damn brat… "So… "

I looked at the time on my computer screen. Half past three.

"- If we leave now…

\- We could gather quite the bits of information before I leave, yea…

\- I could even drive ya ta Kyoto's station afterwards. Since ya'll have ta pass through it, yer Neechan will be able ta retrieve ya there, that would give us an extra hour. Up ta ya ta convince her ta let ya go !

\- Eh, same for you and Kazuha AND your mother…"

o.O.o

Despite the chill I had when my best friend reminded me that fact, things went quite smoothly with the girls. The fact we didn't hide anything probably helped. Yes, we were going to question some suspects in the case of Sahashi-han's murder but we'd be with a police officer. Not alone. No risks. And we'd be careful about the timing, I'd bring "Conan-kun" right on time to get on his Shinkansen, no problem about that either.

And, as promised to them and Ayanokoji...-keibu, we were obediently standing behind the policeman while we visited the ones from the editor's list - we nevertheless gave vague answers to the officer as to why we thought the suspect or a possible accomplice were among them , answers received a sigh, the man wasn't a fool...

But he was helping. The questions were always the same : do you have an alibi for Sunday's early morning and have you read the book ? If yes, did you talk about it to anyone ?

Our researches had for the moment not really been fructuous and I was wondering how we'd be able to identify our accomplice - voluntarily or not - of the BO...

Last door was Tanioka's, and since I knew the teen, I decided it would be easier if I did the chat.

"- We're about the same age an' I kind o' know him, do ya mind if I... ? If ya interrogate him, ya'd need the presence o' his guardian an' I don' think it'll help..."

Ayanokoji eyed me a second before stepping back, staying outside near of the gate, leaving me free reins to go first and to push the door's bell.

"- Who's here ?" A female voice answered to the interphone, not sounding really happy to have visitors.

Was that woman a relative of Tanioka ?

"- Eh... Hello, I'm Hattori Heiji, I'd like ta see Tanioka-kun..."

The name seemed to ring a bell, according to her short silence. "A moment please, I'll ask if he can welcome you."

The sentence was polite but the tone wasn't, so I was kind of giving up about that "relative" theory. I didn't know who that guardian was, acting half like a housemaid though without manners but she didn't seem to belong to the family.

The gate opened and so did the door facing it a few meters away, revealing a familiar face, Takeo's.

"- Oh, Hattori-kun ! Ya brought a friend ?" He asked as his eyes fell on Kudô. "Still, quite the surprise ta see ya here ! Though, ya do seem ta like ta spot in places ya shouldn' be in..."

The teen's wink was clearly indicating he was referring to last evening's party but, well, he didn't mention it directly. Luckily for me to be honest since, the teen wasn't seeing him, but Ayanokoji was just at the corner and that would have been embarrassing to explain, knowing I kind of implied I had been invited that night...

"- Come in !"

We chatted a bit in front of a cup of tea, but once again, none of the answers helped. Of course, there was no need to check Tanioka's father's alibi, seeing the man was in jail, but, as to whether he spoke or not about the book, apparently, that was also a no, according to his son. He himself had also been able to have a glimpse on it but didn't mention it either.

Taking advantage of the fact his 'nanny' didn't follow back to the entrance, I took a bit longer than needed to put back my shoes and finally asked my last question.

"- Ne, Tanioka... Have ya heard o' somethin' called the Black Organization ? Durin' yer kidnappin' maybe ? Or through Sahashi-han ?"

The teen stopped an instant, before shaking his head. "Nah, sorry, that name isn' familiar...

\- Never mind then ! Come on K... Conan-kun, time ta go ta the Station, yer Shinkansen awaits ya !" I joyfully declared, ruffling his hairs as I got up.

"- Stop it..." He grumbled, putting his hair back in place. "And it's still a bit early to go to the station, got at least two hours...

\- Yea... "

We left and I stopped in front of Ayanokoji who was standing a few meters away, expecting some kind of comment from us, but probably guessing we were empty-handed at our bored faces.

"- So I guess this is the end of this little useless role play, Hattori-kun.

\- Almost. " I objected, trying to keep my calm despite his annoying comment. "Just one last thin'. Could ya check if any o' those four got a call from a certain phone number ?"

The man raised a brow. "I could... I just hope this time we'll get something... Whose number ?

\- I'll tell ya ta who it belongs afterwards, wouldn' want ta spoil the surprise ta ya..."

The policeman rolled his eyes, clearly starting to lack of patience, and that almost made me smirk. Until a kick to my chin forced me back into a straight face.

"- Please ?" I asked with a not-so-pledging face but I was doing my best, I swear !

o.O.o

One half hour later, we were sitting in front of some cans in a nearby park, Kudô and I insisting we preferred not crowded places. And since the weather wasn't on our side today, we almost had the place for ourselves.

I eyed Ayanokoji with boredom as he got up to answer a phone call.

"- So, any opinion about those suspects ?" The fake child asked after a gulp from his iced coffee.

"- Not really. None seemed formidable enough ta belong ta the BO but that could be a strength... Or it was somethin' said unintentionally...

"- Hmm they all seemed to know how important that work was, I don't think any of them could have done such a mistake... Nah, I'd say it was voluntary. Meaning we met this afternoon someone who belongs to their ranks...

\- I don' like the idea...

\- Me neither."

I was getting up to throw my can when a few things happened in a short time, stopping me in the middle of that task.

One, Ayanokoji was coming back and I could guess that, at his frown, the phone number I gave to him had appeared on one of our suspects' list of calls.

Two, Kudô seemed pretty agitated all of a sudden, though I didn't really know why. I think he tried to say something but my ears were ringing so I couldn't hear a thing.

And three, something hit me. Hard. Some droplets of scarlet shone in the sun in front of my eyes before I fell backwards.


	19. Chapter 18 - Pommeau

**Heya !**

 **Let's solve that tiny cliff I let you in and go further towards the truth ! : )**

 **I'll publish both last chapter and epilogue on Sunday so this is the last before last publication ! ; )**

 **o.O.o**

 **emmahoshi : Haha, I'm glad for you then, typing such long reviews must have been hellish with a phone, I'm impressed :O Ah, well, I'll give some fuelto your theories in this chapter : ) Nah, he's been hit front. as to why he couldn't see who... Same, answer in that chapter ; ) As to Heiji dealing with his father's death, nah, I'll be mentioning it but we won't be with him as he tries to climb the long way to accept that loss and try to cope with it... I wasn't feeling like describing the whole thing and it would have been quit sad, when I'm trying to have him more spirited in those recent chapters :p**

* * *

 **Chapter 18 : Pommeau**

* * *

"- Oy, Hattori !"

I was going to yell I wasn't dead - or deaf - yet, when two strong arms grabbed me under my shoulders to drag me under the trees.

No need to say it wasn't agreeable at all but, with another bullet hitting the ground at barely millimetres of my left leg, I agreed it was a good idea.

When Ayanokoji finally let me go, it was up to Kudô to decide it was also a good idea to keep me under pain, putting pressure on the entry point.

The bullet hit me somewhere around the upper left arm, not far away from the shoulder, from what I felt. I had a chill when I remembered my position when I got shot. If I hadn't decided to move right at this moment, the bullet would have probably ended 20 cm on the left, too close to my heart for my own good.

"- A sniper ?!" The policeman ranted, his eyes looking at the nearby skyscrapers through the leaves, probably trying to spot any trace of our aggressor.

"- If ya tell me whose name was on yer list... I'll tell ya who's shootin' at us..." I proposed, gently pushing my friend away to sit and face the man, bringing my hand on the jacket he had been using to compress the wound.

"- It was Superintendent General Tanioka's... But it makes no sense, the man is in jail..."

I paled a bit, turning to look at Kudô, mouth half opened.

"- But his son...

\- That would explain a lot of things..." The fake boy concluded with a frown.

I guessed that, just like me, he was seeing that case with a new eye. And that answer was filling a few holes in our story...

Sahashi-han had been speaking about his book right to the ones he didn't want to when he spoke about it with Tanioka Takeo and his father... And that would have been easy, being physically close to the old man the whole party, to try to murder him. No need to force any door either when he finally managed to kill the author, he just had to knock and the man would have opened despite the late hour. But still... Was the BO hiring in kindergarten or what ...?

"- He's barely sixteen, no way that boy could kill anyone..." The policeman sighed, not really fond of our theory, also shocked by the young age of the culprit.

"- That's the best way ta hide, don' ya think ?" I smirked as I pushed on my legs to get up, using my good arm to stabilize, nevertheless grimacing with the effort.

And employing younglings wasn't anything new for the BO... That Haibara was the living proof of it, even without that shrinking pill, she'd still be pretty young to be in a criminal society...

"- What do you think you're doing ? We stay hidden, I'm going to call for he..."

The man stopped in the middle of his sentence as I grabbed his collar to drag him towards me, allowing him to avoid by barely millimetres a dagger sent at him from behind.

"- The nanny !" I warned with a pained hiss as Ayanokoji almost stumbled on me.

"- Just run !" Kudô ordered, pushing us away to avoid another blade.

As we could, we rushed towards the closest cover, a wooden kiosk, and flattened against it. I knew I was panting heavily but well, running with a bullet in the arm wasn't a sport I was fond of and my body neither.

"- The "nanny" ?" The policeman asked with startle as he looked at me.

"- She was the one acting like Tanioka-niisan's guardian when we visited him…" My friend explained, allowing me to catch my breath.

"- More like a bodyguard it seems…" I added with irony.

"- I bet she's trying to force us in the open, for Tanioka-niisan to have a clear shot…"

A noise of broken wood just near my head informed me she had been succeeding in her mission, since that bullet could only belong to the m... teen in black.

"- Crap, we're just sittin' ducks here…" I ranted before putting my cap on my head with a determinate expression. "I'm the one he wants ta kill so I'll be drawin' Tanioka's attention, ya both, just neutralize that girl with her knives an' come ta help me after that !

\- That's mad, just don't…!"

But I didn't hear the end of Ayanokoji's order, I was already long gone, trying to go deeper into the park, not wanting to meet any innocent wanderer, crossing my fingers for the sniper to be more interested in me than in my friends.

A few gunshots later, I knew two things. First, that Tanioka had decided to go after me, just like I hoped. And second, he clearly was now physically in the park. It was up to Kudô and Ayanokoji to neutralize the woman, I, on my side, was just planning to run around, in the hope I'd last long enough against the teen despite my wounded arm.

I was surprised to see that I wasn't that slow in the end, it was funny how adrenaline could help you to run sometimes… Though I knew my body would have to pay the price… Well, it would be time to regret it later !

It lasted something like what, ten minutes ? I had to admit that, adrenaline or not, I was at my limit… And the limit of the park ! And the last thing I wanted was to find myself zigzagging among a crowd with a mad guy with a gun at my heels…

But that was when I spotted Kudô, in a bush a bit further, his finger against his lips when he saw I was looking at him. He had a sign of the chin, to show me Ayanokoji was hidden not far away from him, his weapon roughly in the direction I thought Tanioka was, he probably saw him too. Did they neutralized the aunty ? Probably…

I stopped to hide behind some tree, knowing now would be our best opportunity to try to seize the guy. But we had to get him out… I guessed it was time for me to try to distract him…

"- Oy, Tanioka, why not try ta speak man ta man ?" I tried as I got out of my hiding, hands in the air.

Some long seconds went by, long enough for me to think it was perhaps not such a good idea and that I was soon going to decorate some drawer in a morgue but… Rah, I had to try to have him step into the open, for the policeman to neutralize him… Mentally crossing my fingers, I tried to provoke him a bit more.

"- Or ya perhaps want me ta call ya somethin' else ? Don' ya have those alcoholic names in the BO ?"

A bullet hitting the ground at my feet informed me Tanioka wasn't really appreciating my joke. He had stepped a bit closer to me, but not enough to be clearly in Ayanokoji's line of fire, there still was some vegetation between them... Crap.

"- Alcohol names. Not alcoholic…

\- Ok, ok..." I tried to calm him down, raising my hands between us, sweat-dropping a bit as my eyes laid on the weapon in his hand.

"- I am Pommeau. That name is my pride. Ya won' insult me anymore, Hattori Heiji."

And the gun fired.

Well, the gunS. I didn't really remember which one first.

The only thing I remembered is that the impact threw me to the ground but, strangely, I didn't feel much pain.

A second detonation echoed when I hit the floor, before I heard some footsteps rushing towards me. I pushed on my good arm to sit and looked at my two partners coming to me with a concerned face, though there was some kind of relief when they saw I was conscious and moving.

That was also surprising me, having felt a hit against the left of my torso so I dug into my chest pocket. To then triumphantly take my phone out and show it to them with a smile, my talisman hanging from it, just at my eyes level.

"- Lucky !

\- Hattori..."

It looked like I was the only one to think it was funny, since Kudô darkened even more at the sight of my broken phone, I didn't really understand why…

Though, after a second look... I noticed that I could see my friend _through_ my phone.

"- Perhaps not... " were my last words as I slowly looked down to stare at my chest, seeing the red starting to taint my clothes.

What happened after is a mystery to me.

o.O.o

Well, was a mystery, until I opened my eyes again.

I guessed that, at my lack of sensations, I was being fed with painkiller medication. I felt a bit heavy on the left side but that was all.

A bandage around my chest and shoulder confirmed that first impression.

With a sigh, I looked around me. The room was dark, except for a small light on my bedside table. Night-time probably.

I guessed with a little smile that I was a bit late to bring Kudô to the station. Wouldn't change much, right ? Neechan was going to think I was really doing that on purpose…

Speaking of the devil, the door opened slowly on Ayanokoji and my best friend.

"- Ah, you woke up ?" The fake boy smiled as he came closer to my bed.

"- An' ya ? Not in yer train ?" I coughed a bit, my throat dry, grabbing with my good hand the cup of water near of me.

"- I managed to convince his guardian I had to keep him a bit more with me, as a witness for my investigation …" The policeman declared, with his usual calm voice. "They came back to Osaka, to your mother's house.

\- Did ya warn Okan ?" I wondered with a grimace as I started to move to settle in a sitting position.

"- I had to." Ayanokoji confirmed as he helped me to straighten my bed. "An underage wounded in a shootout… It was out of question not to warn her. She'll be here in one hour, I think… I don't know how many will come, seeing the Mouri are with her but I advised not to bring too many people.

\- Ok, thanks… _An_ underage ? What happened ta Tanioka ?

\- Sorry, when I saw he was going to shoot, I tried to stop him but I couldn't aim properly, with those trees around him…

\- Which explains the second gunshot I heard…

\- Yes. I didn't want to…"

The man put his hand in front of his head to rub his face. He was conflicted, it was obvious. But who wouldn't have been ? That man had been forced to shot a teen to protect another… I was glad with the decision he took since it was the reason I was able to talk to him right now but dealing with young criminals had nothing easy…

"- … But he shot you and was going to do it again… He's in the intensive care unit, they don't know yet if he…"

I nodded in silence, for him to understand I got what he meant.

"- You've been lucky by the way…" Kudô finally declared, probably to change the topic. "The bullet nicked your lung and a nearby artery but, since it already went through your phone, it didn't dug too deep…

\- So I really was lucky in the end !" I grinned with pride.

My best friend rolled his eyes dramatically, sharing our usual little game : me spurting nonsense about having been cautious and him being the mother scolding a child… Things were back to normal !

"- Hattori-kun…" Ayanokoji's voice said, interrupting our private joke. "Whose number was it ?"

My grin leaving my face, I looked at him straight in the eyes. Was he going to believe me if I started to accuse Osaka's Superintendent General of everything ? I had something to ask first…

"- Ayanokoji-keibu… I need ta ask ya one thin' before that. Why did ya help me ? We both know it wasn' fer my charmin' smile… So why ?"

The man sighed as he crossed his arm in front of his chest. But, after a long silence, finally spoke.

"- The questionings. Of that criminal group who had allowed Saijô-san to escape. Those men seemed… too narrow-minded to have organized all that. I felt there was something else… And Saijô-san also admitted targeting you wasn't just to have his revenge. That the ones who freed him asked him to kill your father and you were just the side dish… But I think you already knew that, right ?"

I nodded a yes, knowing it was useless to hide anything now.

"- So my hunch was right… Well, all those things are why I helped you. And I felt you knew more than you were telling…

\- I hoped it was somethin' like that…" I admitted, turning my head to look at my best friend, to see him shrug. Yea, it was time to spill the beans. "That number… It belongs ta the Superintendent General Kasai. "

Just as expected, I could see, even in the faint light, that the officer had paled.

"- Ya probably guess now why I didn' share that information before… Who would have believed me…?

\- Tell me everything. "

It was my turn to sigh. I was starting to feel tired and speaking wasn't exactly agreeable with the heavy weight I was feeling on my chest.

"- K… Conan-kun, could ya …?"

My friend didn't even scold me for almost slipping his name and turned to Ayanokoji.

"- I was with Heiji-niichan the whole time so I know everything !"

I had a small smile at his childish tone, always feeling the urge to tease him about that when he used it but I didn't, for once. I was too grateful for him to take over.

I remembered I closed my eyes after our chat but it probably lasted longer than planned because what woke me up were Kazuha's arms around my neck.

"- Heiji !

\- Hey, I'm no teddy bear, Kazuha..." I grumbled, blushing, a bit embarrassed by the fact she was so close.

I felt she smiled, her cheek being against mine.

"- If that's the only way fer you ta stop hurtin' yerself, I'll stay around yer neck the rest of yer life !

\- Aho, how do ya want me ta solve cases like this …?" I pointed out, my ears now scarlet at her declaration.

As I looked elsewhere, trying to hide my embarrassment, I noticed Okan and Otaki-han were also here, a small smile on their lips.

Great, as if I needed some witnesses right now…

But the fact they were smiling was comforting. Though I knew I'd have to apologize once again for scaring them…

But this case was reaching its end.

Kasai. He was the last one to bring down, along with his politician…

We had to find a way to link both to that case.

* * *

 **Pommeau : French alcohol between cider and calvados. A bit stronger than wine, around 20°. I liked the idea, for a young agent, to have a name a bit harder than a wine, softer than a strong alcohol.**


	20. Chapter 19 - Testimony

**Hey !**

 **And here we are, entering the last chapters and unveiling the last vilains... Hope you had fun with that story and thanks for staying tuned ! ; )**

 **o.O.** **o**

 **emmahoshi : Yup, I wanted for once the culprit to be a young one... I mean, look at sherry, barely what ? 18-19 and producing poisons for the Organisation ? Not all members are old... Haha, yea, I added some touches of humour here and there, I like those precious moments in serious situations : ) And Heiji is the best char for that, always wanting to have a good joke whatever happens : ) Yup, it's over ^^;; Thanks again for your support, your reviews are always so much fun to me : )**

* * *

 **Chapter 19 : Testimony**

* * *

I didn't know how but I had been able to fall asleep. To be woken up by some footsteps in my room. Discreet ones but well, I had been expecting some company so my ears were more sensible than usual. I forced myself not to open my eyes. At the darkness through my eyelids, I knew it was still the middle of the night, no need to look around me for that. As to the owner of those shoes, well, I hoped it was the one I was expecting. It was about time, right ? Since I arrived in Osaka's General Hospital during the afternoon, midnight was the best moment for a bad guy to pay me a visit, wasn't it ?

Thanks to Otaki-han, we spread the word in Osaka's Police Headquarters, in the hope it would fell in the right ears, that I had been badly wounded during that fight with Tanioka and put into a coma. And that my mother had requested me to be transferred back to Osaka in the hope I'd wake up one day, wanting me to see a familiar environment around me. A bit melodramatic but... Well, those footsteps in the middle of the night hinted it worked just like we hoped.

"- Sorry boy, don't take it too personally but I'd prefer you not to wake up at all…"

I kept a smile for myself. This was the exact voice I was waiting for. But I couldn't celebrate anything yet, we were far from over. This was just the beginning.

A soft noise close to my ear told me he probably grabbed the spare pillow I had kept near of me. Was he planning to suffocate me with it ?

I wasn't really fond of the idea so I decided it was time to startle him a bit.

"- Could I know why ?"

The man jumped at my voice, despite the fact it wasn't really impressive, short-breathed as I was since I had been hurt. But the fact I couldn't put much force in my tone was also helping, since I needed him to feel safe enough to spit the truth. So I tried to look as inoffensive as possible for him to think he was controlling the whole situation.

The Superintendent General, indeed with a pillow in his hand, close to my face, stepped back a bit, though keeping his weapon in the hand.

"- Ya're from the Black organization, aren' ya ? Just like Tanioka Takeo… An' ya organized all this… Startin' by killin' my father ta take his place !"

The coughing fit that followed wasn't absolutely planned but well, I was pretty much into the role, right ? I could challenge Kudô's mother…

"- You shouldn't get too excited in your condition, boy, this isn't good for your health…

\- I don' really think ya're carin' about my health right now, Kasai-han… Not with that pillow so close ta my mouth earlier…"

The man had the decency to shrug with slight embarrassment, lowering his arm and its pillow.

"- Tell me why ya did this…"

Kasai sighed dramatically as he took the seat near of my bed, a smirk that augured no good on his face.

"- Since we both know how it'll end, I guess there's no harm in having a little chitchat…"

Ok, seeing how confident he was, I was ready to bet there wasn't any nurse on this floor anymore. I just had to hope he had done it in a non-violent way… But well, what would be the use to sneak it by night if it was to kill everyone coming across his way ? Nah, the guy had planned to kill only one person tonight and I had the pleasure to be this VIP.

"- Your father had to die, I needed his position after all…

\- Just fer that charity gala …?

\- Ah yea, you were there also… I didn't really pay attention to you, but Pommeau… Tanioka, as you call him, told me you were there… It was indeed my first mission. That position as Superintendent General was allowing me to enter this party and access to sensitive information when I shouldn't have been able to even come close to its door. It also allowed me to slip just enough information to that criminal group for them to feel safe enough to attack the place, attracted by what looked like easy money… And in the mess, Pommeau was supposed to act. To frame Sahashi's murder on that group. But you and your pals intervened and you were in the way until the end, even during that last attempt outside…

\- An' Tanioka-kun has been forced ta kill him durin' the night, standin' out in the open, an' we spotted him… Was it him who warned the Organization that Sahashi-han was writtin' a book about Them ?"

The man, his face a bit darker now that he was mentioning how his plan screwed up because of me, Kudô and the Kaitou Kid, had a nod so I kept speaking.

"- That's just so much pure luck fer ya ta have someone among that author's relatives… Ya wouldn' have heard o' it else, an' it would have been too late once the book would have been out…

\- Maa, don't underestimate us, boy. Sahashi has not really been discreet during his researches for his previous book when he stuck his noise in a specific political party...

\- Hidaka Atsushi's ?" I said, knowing I was right on point at the policeman's face.

That was no real surprise, the man had been the one to appoint him as Superintendent General... But the guy nevertheless looked pissed off.

"- Why do you ask so many questions when it seems you are more than well informed about that case..." Kasai asked with a suspicious frown.

"- That was more o' a lucky guess..." I explained, a bit angry against myself, knowing I should let him do the talking, not me, and that for once I had to tame my detective's will to explain everything and how I found it out.

"- The luck seems to have been pretty much on your side lately... Pity it'll end tonight..." He said with a grin that could fit any sadistic bad guy, expect for the fact the man in front of me was a policeman. "Yea, Hidaka is the one who spotted him first. A man in his party had seen too much about him and, before he could finish him, the guy had already spoken to Sahashi... So we had to prepare that plan to put me in that position, where I could work with Pommeau to prevent the publishing of that book... In the end, as long as Sahashi died, we'd win, since that idiot turned Pommeau into his heir, meaning he'd chose whether he'd publish the book or not…

\- I still can' believe ya did that much damage with just the two o' ya..." I said, trying, with that fake flattery, to know if anyone else had been implied. "Gettin' Saijô out o' jail, the attack durin' the charity, Sahashi-han's murder, that murder attempt on me yesterday..."

Kasai's smile was getting wider and wider, as if happy to be remembered all of his mischiefs.

"- Well, two is enough when you have my kind of gift... Knowing where to put the pressure, right where needed, to force the others to do the dirty work for you... This is my specialty.

\- An' yet ya're here...

\- I have to admit it turns out to get a bit more personal with you... And I'm not taking many risks... No one will really be surprised you to suffocate after a wound to the lung. That will only be a horrible relapse..."

I guess it was the end of our chitchat since the man got up, grabbing his pillow more firmly and stepping towards me again.

I had a tensed face - just a little second, it was too tempting - before sending him my best provocative smile, one of those I affectionated to have on my face when a cocky criminal was getting cornered.

"- Thank ya fer yer testimony, Kasai-han."

The man jumped on his feet, turning his head to look behind him, to see Ayanokoji and Kudô going out of their hiding, a cupboard we dragged in my room for the occasion.

The officer had still a video camera in his hands and nonchalantly switched it off as he came closer, my best friend on his heels, a smile just like mine on his face.

"- I'm afraid to have to arrest you, Superintendent General Kasai." He declared, his face straight.

"- I'm not sure I'm really fond of that idea..."

What happened right after wasn't really part of the plan, I had to admit I wasn't really fond of having my throat squished in an iron clad hand and that what was happening right now, too quick for me to even try to defend myself.

"- Give the camera to the kid and have him to bring it to me."

I could see Ayanokoji was hesitating but the grunt I involuntarily let out when Kasai squeezed my neck harder apparently convinced him, since he gave the camera to Kudô.

The pressure on my throat being relieved, I could gulp for air the second after, stabilizing my vision now that blood was back to my brain.

Seeing the man was pretty much focused on my friend, I knew it was time to act. Whatever I could do to distract him would be enough to leave the door open to Ayanokoji. My eyes fell on the book on my bedside table, my favourite anthology from Ellery Queen, Kudô had been nice enough to retrieve it for me while I was being transferred. Without thinking twice, I grabbed it and threw it against Kasai's head, hoping to destabilize him enough to get free and stop playing the hostage.

But I had underestimated what he could take and I barely made him angry.

"- Brat !"

Was the last thing I heard before his grasp strengthen around my neck, my ears ringing, my vision swimming, a red veil now on the things around me but not thick enough for me not to see his hand was digging in his pocket, clearly in search of a weapon.

"- Gun ...!" I half coughed half whispered as I could, using the last bit of air in my lungs to warn my allies.

The others hadn't been inactive and had come closer to neutralize the guy but too close, too deadly close, since they wouldn't be able to avoid that bullet shot towards them.

I saw Ayanokoji pushing Kudô at the last minute and heard the detonation at the same time, before seeing him fall to the floor.

Had we been too self-confident ? Was that guy going to kill us all ...?

I was reaching my limit, ready to kiss that harsh life goodbye when the hand around my neck suddenly turned as slack as jelly. The man slid to the floor, a broken camera rolling near him.

A bit further, Kudô was barely putting his feet down, his shoe still shining with power after his powered kick.

Seeing I had my eyes on him, he smiled, holding a tiny SD card in front of his eyes, having been able to save it before kicking the camera.

He could look classy, sometimes, that Kudô, even in that seven years old body.

That had been my last thought before, a smile still on my lips, I passed out.


	21. Epilogue

**As promised, the epilogue is just following ! ^^**

* * *

 **Epilogue**

* * *

"- You ok ? Why the long face ? "

I turned my head to look at my little friend, still a bit slow in my moves.

We just reached my house, finally, after another day for me at the hospital. They let me go since I insisted – ok, perhaps threatened to escape ?, this happened so often before, they knew I wasn't bluffing. Oh well, it seemed stupid to stay any longer when I had just a few bruises around my throat and my arm in a sling.

Ayanokoji had it worse. The first night had been a bit of a pinch but he was now out of danger. He'd have to stand those aseptic walls a bit longer, two weeks probably. I knew I was going to visit him, I had to admit I was a bit concerned about him. For real. This case had been showing him under another light and I would have been stubborn not to recognize the man had his heart and his mind at the right place. Though that wouldn't remove the fact he was pompous but no one could be perfect !

Kazuha's father had been relaxed this very morning, due to the lack of proofs, Kasai being the only one to supposedly have something and now that he had been arrested, he hadn't any authority anymore to keep the officer behind bars.

The man had by the way been the one to volunteer to bring me home. We wanted to surprise Kazuha, with us both coming back the same day. And he was now walking towards the door with a wide smile on the face.

Everything sounded well, right ?

But I couldn't stop myself to frown, a weight on my chest that had nothing to do with my wounds.

"- We stopped that Hidaka thanks ta Kasai's testimony but we'll never know if any o' the three mentioned this whole case ta the Organization… Imagine one o' our names slipped…"

I had a chill at the idea. Kazuha. Okan. Toyama-han. Otaki-han. All those names, if any had been mentioned, would be added to their hit list. And that was the last thing I wanted.

And of course there was mine. Seeing their plan, it clearly was familiar to them, as much as Oyaji's. And that would also mean each and every of my relatives could be in danger.

"- Welcome into my world…" Kudô smiled with bitterness, probably guessing my darkest fears, since it was his "everyday". "A place where I hope no one will notice my name too much…

\- How can ya stand that pressure ?

\- I focus on simple things. Happy things. What I'm fighting for."

Following his look, I guessed the tender smile now on his face was for Neechan, who just appeared on my house doorstep, with Kazuha.

"- I think I understand…" I said, looking at Toyama-han hugging Kazuha, happiness on both their faces.

Leaving my friend to the one he loved, I stepped towards my childhood friend with a smile.

"- Thanks." Toyama-han smiled, patting my good shoulder with a smile.

"- Any time !"

The man winked at me when he left us with a wave.

"- Ya ok, Heiji ?" Kazuha asked, her eyes on the white bandage slightly going out of my shirt.

"- Yup. An' ya ? Glad ta got yer father back ?

\- Yes."

Her mouth opened in one of the brightest smile I'd never seen on her face, at least back to herself after all these troubles. "Thanks ta ya.

\- Thanks fer trustin' me on that matter !" I smiled, gently taping my chest with an exaggerated confident and proud face.

"- I knew it was a good idea ta give that case ta the great Hattori Heiji !" She congratulated me, playing my game. "Come in, we prepared some tea !

\- Oh, so ya're offerin' me some tea in my own house ?

\- Ya better accept it !" She answered as she held her tongue to me.

As I walked in, my eyes got caught by something unusual in my house. The little altar that was now here, in the entrance of the living room.

I had a little smile at the picture of my father, his look hard even on that glossy paper, but I knew, now, that all of this had never been anything else that a facade and that he had been supporting me this whole time.

 _"_ _We got them, Oyaji…"_ I thought with a tender smile, hoping he could still say he was proud of me, wherever he was now.

"- Heiji ?"

Kazuha had her eyes on me, a little pinch of concern in them.

"- I'll think I'll be takin' ya up on yer offer. Ta chat." I finally dared to say, feeling that, now that this case was closed, I could now try to face that hole in my heart, to face that life without my father and finding my own way through it.

To my great surprise, the girl suddenly grabbed me in a hug, cautious not to hurt me, but still close enough to make me blush.

"- Whenever ya want, Heiji. I'll be here fer ya. Always."

 **FIN**

* * *

 **Annnd that's over : )**

 **Hope you enjoyed that story and once again thanks for reviewing, favouriting, following and don't hesitate to put a review to give me your overall opinion : )**

 **Unfortunately, I have to take a little break... Should be back in September, see you there ! ; )**

 **o.O.o**

 **emmahoshi : Well, I wanted a true vilain so he was of course the kind to sneak in an hospital : p And nah, sorry for Heiji but nowadays, books' covers are so thin... not enough to knock down such a man ^^; And of course, conan is here to save the day, as he did during all this fic ; ) Yes, sorry, I have to take a break, I've been writing non stop for one year and a half, my brain needs rest : ) And that new job is really eating me, hope I'll manage to make it less time consuming with the summer ._. Yup, the ending was a bit open, as I already told you, I didn't want to go through the whole healing process but to end on a happy note, saying he'd find a way, helped by the best support there is, the girl he loves : ) I plan to come back, I got at least 2 more things to write, I'd be disappointed if I had to focus on work only o.O Living while just drive, work, sleep is for boring adults, I need dreams and fics in my life, it's as essential as breathing to me ! :p Once again, glad you enjoyed that other story of mine and hope to see you soon : D**


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